Roasted Vegetable Stack Food

ROASTED VEGETABLE STOCK

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450°F.
• Toss the vegetables with the olive oil, until gently coated.
• Place the vegetables in a roasting pan or on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast for about half an hour, turning them occasionally (They should be nicely browned and very aromatic).
• Place all the vegetables in a large pot, scraping all the good brown stuff from the roasting pan into the pot with the herbs and peppercorns.
• Fill with water and place on the stovetop on medium high heat.
• Bring to a boil, lower the temperature, and boil gently for 2-3 hours (watch the water level--if it boils down too much, add more water).
• Strain, pressing down on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard the solids and place the remaining liquid in a sauce pan.
• Simmer until reduced by three quarters; this could take about an hour.
• You should end up with about one and a half to two quarts of stock.

ROASTED VEGETABLE STACK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F, coat 2 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.
• Place the vegetables on the baking sheets in a single layer, lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray and season with salt and pepper om both sides, bake for 16-20 minutes, or until tender.
• Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, coat an 8 inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, place 3 slices of the roasted eggplant in the bottom of the baking dish, spread half of the ricotta cheese, half of the chopped basil,and 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese over that.
• Continue to layer with zucchini slices, yellow squash slices, and strips of red peppers, spread the remaining half of the ricotta cheese and basil, and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese on top.
• Place the remaining 3 slices of eggplant over that and top with tomato sauce and the remaining 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, bake for 10-12 minutes, or until heated through and the cheese is melted, cut into 4 squares and serve.

VEGETABLE STACKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400˚. Brush a 24-cup mini-muffin pan (preferably nonstick) with olive oil. Toss the potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, olive oil, garlic, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a large bowl.
• Place a potato slice in each muffin cup (trim if needed). Top with an eggplant slice, then a tomato slice. Cover the pan with foil and bake until the vegetables are tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Uncover the pan, sprinkle with the parmesan and bake, uncovered, until browned, about 15 more minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove from the pan. Top with chopped parsley.

ROASTED VEGETABLE STACK

Steps:

• Brush vegetables and polenta with dressing; let stand at room temperature 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 425ºF. Spread vegetables into single layer on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
• Bake 8 to 10 min. or until tender, turning vegetables after 5 min. Remove from oven. Place polenta in single layer on separate baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray; bake 1 min. on each side.
• Top 4 polenta slices with eggplant slices, onions, half the cheese, peppers and mushrooms; cover with remaining cheese and polenta slices.

ROASTED VEGETABLE NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. and brush 2 baking sheets with some of the olive oil.
• Arrange as many vegetables as possible in one layer on sheets. Brush vegetables with some remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables in middle and lower thirds of oven, switching positions of sheets in oven half way through roasting, until just tender and lightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Transfer vegetables as roasted to a tray, arranging them in one layer. Roast remaining vegetables in same manner. Vegetables may be roasted 1 day ahead, cooled completely, and chilled, layered between sheets of plastic wrap on trays and covered. Bring vegetables to room temperature before proceeding.
• In a small bowl stir together ricotta, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Put 1 eggplant slice on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Spread 1 tablespoon of ricotta mixture over eggplant. Cover ricotta mixture with 2 potato slices and layer with 2 zucchini slices, 1 onion slice, 1 mozzarella slice, 2 to 3 tomato slices, 2 zucchini slices, and 1 onion slice. Spread 1 tablespoon ricotta mixture over onion and top with 1 eggplant slice. Make 5 more napoleons using remaining vegetables, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella in same manner.
• Insert a metal or wooden skewer through center of each napoleon to make a hole from top to bottom. Trim rosemary sprigs to 1-inch taller than napoleons and remove bottom leaves from each sprig, leaving about 1-inch of leaves around top. Insert 1 sprig into each napoleon and bake in middle of oven 5 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and vegetables are heated through.

VEGETABLE STACKS

Steps:

• Preheat BBQ and set on LOW. Brush vegetables with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and grill slowly until tender, turning once. They will only need about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer the vegetables to a tray, arranging them in a single layer, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. You can stack layers of the vegetables on top of each other with a layer of plastic wrap between; just be sure the vegetables have cooled first. The vegetables may be grilled a day in advance, and refrigerated after cooking. Bring the vegetables back to room temp before proceeding.
• Stir together the ricotta, thyme, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
• Place one slice of eggplant on a lightly oiled baking sheet or foil pan. Spread one tablespoon of the ricotta mixture over the eggplant. Cover with 2 slices of zucchini, 1 slice of onion, 1 slice of mozzarella, 1 slice of tomato, 2 slices of zucchini, and 1 slice of onion. Spread 1 tablespoon of the ricotta mixture over the onion, and top with another slice of eggplant. Repeat this procedure with the remaining vegetables to make 5 more stacks.
• Insert a wooden skewer through the centre of each stack to create a hole from top to bottom. Remove the bottom leaves from each rosemary sprig, leaving one inch of leaves on the top. Insert 1 sprig into the centre hole in each stack and return to the BBQ. Heat for about 5 minutes on Low or until mozzarella is melted and vegetables are warmed through.