Summer Vegetable Tian

How is everyone's vegetable garden's doing right now?  We've been eating a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers from our garden lately.  Last night, we had this new dish with our dinner when we invited some of Bruce's golf buddies over for dinner after their day of golf.  One of the wives brought this French Tian dish that went perfectly with our main dish of barbecued teriyaki flank steak; a family favorite at our house.  Tian is made with eggplant, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, and lots of olive oil to make the most delicious juice from the veggies.  She also brought some crusty French bread to soak up those juices.  Frankly, I could have just eaten this alone as my whole dinner with bread dunked in the juices.  It was so addicting.   It's like a summer version of ratatouille that I like in the fall with all the garden veggies.  I am eager to make this Tian now. The recipe is from Dori Greenspan from her cookbook Everyday Dorie. The name Tian is actually the name of the type of pottery casserole that the recipe is made in.  However, you can also use a 9-inch pie pan or any ovenproof casserole of similar size.  Our guest from last night used an iron skillet which also works well.  Are you looking for ways to use up your garden vegetables.  I think I have a solution.  

Serves 4

5 to 9 tablespoons (75 ml to 135 ml) extra-virgin olive oil (if you use the larger amount, you will have more juices from the veggies)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
10 sprigs fresh herbs, such as parsley, thyme, rosemary, tarragon and/or basil
3 pinches fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds (680 grams) tomatoes
1/2 pound (227 grams) zucchini, green or yellow, scrubbed and trimmed
1/4 pound (113 grams) eggplant, washed and trimmed
1/4 pound (113 grams) red onion(s)
1 loaf or so good bread, for serving

1.  Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 400° F. 

2.  Pour 2 tablespoons of the oil into the baking dish, tilting it so the oil coats the sides. Scatter over half the garlic and a little more than half of the herbs and season generously with salt and pepper.

3.  Slice the vegetables: they should be cut about 1⁄4 inch thick. Ideally they should all be about the same size, so if any are particularly large, you might want to cut them in half the long way before slicing them. This is a nicety, not a necessity.

4.  Arrange the vegetables in the dish in tightly overlapping circles. Try to squeeze the eggplant between slices of tomato and get the zucchini and onions to cuddle up to one another. Keep the circles tight, since the vegetables will soften and shrink in the oven. 

5.  Season generously with salt and pepper, tuck the remaining slivers of garlic in among the vegetables, top with the remaining herbs and drizzle over as much of the remaining oil (3 to 7 tablespoons) as you’d like. 

6.  Place the tian on a baking sheet lined with foil, parchment or a silicone baking mat. 

7.  Bake the tian for 70 to 90 minutes, until the vegetables are meltingly tender and the juices are bubbling.

8.  Serve the tian a few minutes out of the oven or allow it to cool to room temperature. Either way, you’ll want bread...a lot of it.