Summer Courgette Tomato Gratin Food

BAKED COURGETTE & TOMATO GRATIN

Steps:

• Sprinkle the courgettes with a pinch of sea salt flakes and lay them on a plate with another plate on top. Put a weight or tin on top to help push out the liquid.
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the tomatoes and garlic. Cook over a medium heat, stirring, for 5 mins until thickened. Tear in the basil, if using, and season.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and oil a roasting dish. Combine the flours in a bowl. Pour away the water from the courgette. Dip the courgette slices into the egg, then into the flour, and arrange in a layer over the bottom of the dish. Top with a few slices of mozzarella, followed by a layer of the tomato sauce, and repeat with another layer of courgette, mozzarella and sauce. Toss the cheese and breadcrumbs together, then scatter over the top.
• Drizzle with a little more olive oil, and bake for 40-45 mins until golden and bubbling. Serve with a herby red onion salad and some bread to mop it up, if you like. Can be frozen for up to two months.

SUMMER COURGETTE & TOMATO GRATIN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 6 mins, then drain well.
• Mix the garlic with the oil and some seasoning. Strip the herb leaves from their stalks, then add to the oil. Drizzle a little of the oil over the base and sides of a 1.5-litre ovenproof dish. Layer half the potatoes, tomatoes and courgettes in the dish, drizzling with garlic and herb oil as you go. Mix the two cheeses and sprinkle half over the veg.
• Repeat the layers of veg and oil, drizzle over the remaining oil, then sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Bake for 40-45 mins until the veg is tender and the top golden and crisp.

END OF SUMMER VEGETABLE GRATIN

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F.
• Combine the shallots, garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon thyme in a baking dish. Bake, stirring halfway through, until lightly caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool.
• Line 2 baking sheets with cooling racks. Divide the eggplant, yellow squash and zucchini between the 2 sheets. Season the vegetables with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Firmly press the vegetables with a kitchen towel to remove excess water. Lift the racks from the baking sheets and brush off any excess water and salt. Transfer the vegetables onto the sheet trays. Add the tomatoes to one of the sheet trays. Toss each type of vegetable with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon thyme and salt and pepper to taste.
• Make one stack of vegetables on a baking sheet. Start with 1 tomato slice, top it with 1 to 2 slices of zucchini, depending on the size, 1 to 2 slices of yellow squash, and then top with 1 slice of eggplant. (The zucchini and yellow squash slices should fill the same amount of space as the tomato and eggplant; if they are smaller slices, use two.) Place the stack on its side in the baking dish, on top of the caramelized shallots. Repeat making stacks and adding them into the baking dish in a spiral, working from the outside inward. If there are extra vegetables, add them to the center of the dish at the end. Sprinkle with the fontina and Parmesan. Bake until the vegetables are tender and the cheese is melted and golden brown, 35 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes.
• Garnish with the basil and serve with crusty bread.

COURGETTES AND TOMATOES AU GRATIN

Steps:

• If you have the time, salt, drain and dry the sliced courgettes: layer them in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt, and place a suitably sized plate on top. Weigh this down with a heavy object (like scale weights) and after 30 minutes quite a bit of water will have been drawn out. Dry them really thoroughly in a clean cloth and then they're ready to cook. Heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to hold the courgettes in one layer (otherwise do them in two batches), add the crushed garlic and sauté the courgette slices to a nice golden colour on each side. Next arrange layers of courgettes, cheese slices and sliced tomatoes in a heatproof gratin dish so that they overlap each other slightly like slates on a roof. You can watch how to skin tomatoes in our Cookery School Video. Finally sprinkle on the grated Parmesan, basil and salt and freshly milled pepper. Then bake on a high shelf in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve this with lots of crusty bread and a green salad with a sharp lemony dressing.

SUMMER SQUASH GRATIN WITH TOMATOES, PARMESAN AND FRESH THYME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• To cook the onions-- In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
• Add the onions and sauté, stirring frequently, until limp and golden brown, about 2 min.
• Reduce the heat to medium-low if they're browning too quickly.
• Add the garlic and sauté until soft and fragrant, 1 to 2 min.
• Spread the onions and garlic evenly in the bottom of an oiled 2-qt. shallow gratin dish (preferably oval).
• Let cool.
• To assemble the gratin: Put the tomato slices on a shallow plate to drain for a few minutes and then discard the collected juices.
• In a medium bowl, toss the zucchini and squash slices with 1-1/2 Tbs. of the olive oil, 2 Tbs.of the thyme, and 1/2 tsp.of the salt.
• Reserve half of the cheese for the top of the gratin.
• Sprinkle 1 Tbs.of the thyme over the onions in the gratin.
• Starting at one end of the baking dish, lay a row of slightly overlapping tomato slices across the width of the dish and sprinkle with a little of the cheese.
• Next, lay a row of zucchini, overlapping the tomatoes by two-thirds, and sprinkle with cheese.
• Repeat with a row of squash, and then repeat rows, sprinkling each with cheese, until the gratin is full.
• Season lightly with pepper and the remaining 1/2 tsp.salt.
• Drizzle the remaining 1-1/2 Tbs.olive oil over all.
• Combine the reserved cheese with the remaining 1 Tbs. thyme and sprinkle this over the whole gratin.
• Cook until well-browned all over and the juices have bubbled for a while and reduced considerably, 65 to 70 min.
• Let cool for at least 15 min.before serving.
• NOTE: You can use any combination of summer squash for this dish.

SUMMER VEGETABLE GRATIN

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 400 degree. Brush 13- by 9-inch baking dish with 1 teaspoon oil; set aside.
• Toss zucchini and squash slices with 1 teaspon salt in large bowl; transfer to colander set over bowl. Let stand until zuccchini and squash release at least 3 tablespoons of liquid, about 45 minutes. Arrange slices on triple layer paper towels; cover with another triple layer paper towels and firmly press each slice to remove as much liquid as possible.
• Meanwhile, place tomato slices in single layer on double layer paper towels and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt; let stand 30 minutes. Place second doube layer paper towels on top of tomatoes and press firmly to dry.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon oil in 12-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened and dark golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside.
• Combine garlic, 2 teaspoons oil, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper and thyme in small bowl. In large bowl, toss zucchini and squash in half of oil mixture, then arrange in greased baking dish. Arrange caramelized onions in even layer over squash. Slightly overlap tomato slices in single layer on top of onions, Spoon remaining garlic-oil mixture evenly over tomatoes. Bake until vegetables are tender and tomatoes are starting to brown on edges, 40-45 minutes.
• Meanwhile, process bread in food processor or belender until finely ground (about 10 seconds). You should have about 1 cup crumbs. Combine bread crumbs, remaining teaspoon oil, parmesan and shallots in medium bowl. Remove baking dish from oven and increase heat to 450 degrees. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture evenly on top of tomatoes. Bake until bubbling and cheese is lightly browned, 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with basil and let sit at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.

TOMATO, AUBERGINE AND COURGETTE GRATIN

Steps:

• In a non-stick frying pan, heat 1 tsp of the oil over medium-high heat; cook onion, mushrooms, garlic and 2 tbsp water, stirring, for 3 minutes or until softened.
• Add tomatoes, marjoram, thyme and salt and pepper to taste; cook for 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring often.
• Slice courgettes and aubergines diagonllay into 5 mm thick slices. Toss aubergine with remaining oil.
• Spread 125 ml of the tomato sauce in a glass baking dish. Layer with half of the courgette, aubergine and sauce, repeat layers.
• Mix breadcrumbs with cheese; sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered at 200 C for 35 minutes or until bubbling.