Vegetable Tian

Ok, so first let me just say and then shout from the hilltops that I find Ina Garten ridiculously charming. 

She sometimes has a little bit of the Paltrow Pall, a sort of whiff of Let-Them-Eat-Cake-Itis with her too charming home and too adoring husband and too incidentally famous and powerful friends but she pulls it all of with so much smiling relatability and so obviously loves every minute of her life and is just so god damned good natured about it all that it never bothers me. 

I still feel as though I could deliver something to her house and end up being invited in for cookies.  Maybe this TV persona is just that, and underneath she is a dragon lady, but until I am shown otherwise (doubtful to ever happen, as she is famously private) I will go on being a little giggly and in love with her.  Also: she is a Long Island girl, sort of, having made it her home (split with Manhattan and Paris, le sigh...) and if Wikipedia is to be believed, a former Nuclear Policy Analyst for the White House. 
...

Ummmmm.   Holla?

This recipe for Vegetable Tian is not only lovely to behold it is super tasty and improves in leftover form.  I've eaten it hot or cold and made it with all manner of ingredients: shallots swapped in for onions, cheddar in place of Gruyere, even eggplant standing in for the zucchini - all with delicious results.  It is a great side dish but also functions as a main course with a nice big salad.  It translates nicely into a brunch setting but can just as easily accompany a roast at dinner.  It is beautifully versatile is my point, and cheap, and relatively healthy.  It is also, for the OCD lover in you, super fun to make what with all the organized layers.  It pleases my eyes, my appetite, and my brain and though I'm fairly certain I've posted about it before, I doubt I've done it justice.  Not with my yucky old camera anyway.  So let's redux!

A tian is a layered, baked, vegetable dish that originated in Provence. 

I just got some learnin' from Google.

Vegetable Tian
Barefoot in Paris

Good olive oil
2 large yellow onions, cut in half and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound medium round potatoes, unpeeled
3/4 pound zucchini
1 1/4 pounds medium tomatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs
2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.




In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish. I always use a tart pan for no other reason than I think it looks pretty - which is good enough reason for me.

 Slice the potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch thick slices.

(You can see I used yellow tomatoes this time.  It is very pretty with red too.)

Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer.

Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.

And that's that.  It definitely isn't a quick dish...you need to plan ahead at least an hour and a half, but you could easily make it ahead of time and stick it in the fridge despite her instructions to serve it warm.  She may have run centrifuge budgets for the White House but you are still in charge in your own kitchen.