Provencal Vegetable Bake

Originally posted 11/8/15:


Layers of sliced summer squash, potatoes and tomatoes over a bed of white beans, topped with crumbled cheese - I found this recipe in an old Family Circle (click for recipe) magazine and it's really good. I do it a little differently from the original recipe omitting the called for eggplant (I don't love eggplant) and onion (my husband doesn't like onion) and I don't think it's missing either of those ingredients - it's very flavorful and pretty! It also calls for herbes de provence which is a mixture of dried herbs that you can make yourself or buy in the spice section at the grocery store (I bought it in a jar and had no problem finding it), if you don't have it or want to buy it I think this would taste just fine without it - add salt and pepper to taste and maybe a sprinkling of any kinds of herbs you happen to have - thyme, rosemary, etc. I served it on the side with grilled chicken - it would taste good with lots of different meats and could also be served alone since it has the beans for a protein. Usually I slice all of these by hand but I'm still learning how to use all the attachments on my food processor so decided to play with the slicing disk and it worked great - saved some time and made everything more uniform for sure. It works just fine slicing by hand tho, don't let that stop you from making this! It's a good one - enjoy!

the magazine shows these arranged in overlapping layers, I stand
 them up alternating veggies and like how it looks...

Ingredients

2 medium sweet onions
3 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cloves garlic, chopped
15 ounce cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 1/2 teaspoons herbes de Provence
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 large eggplant (about 1 pound), ends trimmed, halved lengthwise
3 large summer squash (combination of zucchini and yellow squash), ends trimmed
1/2 pound russet potatoes
3 plum tomatoes
4 ounces goat cheese

Directions

1. 1. Heat oven to 400 degrees . Peel and halve onions; cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onions and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook 8 to 10 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Stir in beans, 1/2 teaspoon of the herbes de Provence and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Pour mixture into bottom of a 9 x 13 oven-safe casserole.
2. 2. Meanwhile, cut eggplant, squash, potatoes and tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices. (To speed things up, use a food processor fitted with a slicing blade or a mandoline.) Toss vegetables with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Arrange vegetables on top of onion-bean mixture in 1 layer; pack tightly.
3. 3. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove foil and crumble goat cheese on top. Bake 15 more minutes. Cool slightly and slice into 4 servings.

Nutrition Information for Provencal Summer Vegetable Bake
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Per Serving: 12 g fiber, 701 mg sodium, 6 g sat. fat, 13 mg chol., 15 g pro., 378 kcal cal., 17 g Fat, total, 45 g carb.

Summer Squash Spiral Gratins

This takes a little time to put together but it isn't hard, so don't let that discourage you from making these! It's just thinly sliced zucchini and summer squash rolled into a big pinwheel layered on top of carmelized leeks (you could use onions instead), studded with sliced tomato and baked. The original recipe made one big spiral but I made individual ones by making small spirals and baking them in 5" springform pans - I think cupcake molds would also work. I like the presentation of the spirals this way instead of cutting the big one into wedges, but if you want to make one big one go for it and let me know how it turns out!

I don't love zucchini (I've probably mentioned this in the past - for me, just like bananas, zucchini is best baked into bread haha) but this is very pretty and flavorful; we had them for dinner with grilled steak, a green salad with mustard vinaigrette (click here for that recipe), and crusty bread. 

Click here for the original recipe found at foodandwine.com - I changed the recipe a bit by shaping them into small spirals; I substituted italian blend shredded cheese for the gruyere, sprinkled grated parmesan on the slices in addition to the italian cheese, and topped each spiral with panko breadcrumbs before baking. That made a nice crunchy topping - yum. Here's the original recipe with my notes added:

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 small leeks (1/2 pound), white and tender green parts thinly sliced into rounds
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 3 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices (it's easier to do this if you have a mandoline)
• 3 medium yellow summer squash, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
• kosher salt
• pepper
• 1 cup finely shredded Gruyere (about 2 ounces) NOTE: I substituted an Italian blend instead.
• 1 plum tomato, very thinly sliced
• sea salt and crusty bread for serving
• panko breadcrumbs mixed with melted butter , optional for topping NOTE: that's my addition, original recipe doesn't call for that step

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425'. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over moderately high heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Spread in a 9" round baking dish (NOTE: I divided the leeks up evenly amongst 5 small springform pans.
2. Meanwhile, on 2 large baking sheets, spread the zucchini and yellow squash and brush with the 
3. remaining 3 tablespoons of oil; season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the cheese (NOTE: I also sprinkled grated parmesan in addition to the shredded Italian blend I used) and let sit until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. 
4. Tightly roll 1 piece of zucchini and set in on the leeks in the center of the dish. Working outward from that center slice, continue rolling and coiling additional pieces of zucchini and yellow squash until you reach the edge of the baking dish. Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper, then tuck in intervals between the zucchini and squash. Scrape any cheese off of the baking sheets and sprinkle on top. (NOTE: because I made smaller individual spirals I just held the center rolled up zucchini in my hand and continued to wrap more slices around it while holding it - also I liked how alternating the squashes looked and didn't wrap too much of either color at the same time, try to vary it up - once it's large enough to fit in the individual pans, carefully set it down and add more to the spiral if it needs it to fill up the pan).
5. NOTE: this is where I added the panko topping. In a small saucepan I melted a little butter and added a big handful of panko to combine. Then sprinkle it only each spiral before baking. You can omit this step if you want!
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until the zucchini and squash are tender and browned in spots. Sprinkle with sea salt. Let cool slightly, then serve with crusty bread. 

we had leftovers the next night with grilled chicken sausage and it was just as good as the first night. 

one year ago: what's better than a mojito? a pitcher of mojitos