Tomato Never Dies?

How do you improve on the impeccable taste of seasonable vegetables? Cover them in cheese and bake them of course!

This is one of my favorite things to make during the summer. The techniques involved are super simple. It's pretty much limited to cutting and lightly prepping the veggies and then it’s mostly a waiting game while it cooks slowly in the oven. Which is what deterred me from making it until almost September this year. Too hot to turn on the oven! But lucky for everyone, there are still plenty of tomatoes in season this late in the game. So run out and try it.

I’ve held on to the issue of Cook’s Illustrated I found this recipe in for almost 10 years now. It’s completely stained with tomato juice at this point.

“Awwwww Yeah” Summer Veggie Gratin

Makes 4 large servings

- 5 tablespoons olive oil

- 1 pound zucchini, cut into ¼ inch thick slices

- 1 pound yellow summer squash, cut into ¼ inch thick slices

- 2 teaspoons salt

- 1 ½ lbs tomatoes (3-4 large) sliced ¼ inch thick

- 2 medium onions, halved and sliced thin

- ¾ teaspoon pepper

- 2 medium garlic cloves, mined (or pressed)

- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced

- 1 cup breadcrumbs

- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

- 2 medium shallots, minced

- ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

One thing that I’ve learned over the years doing this recipe… Pay attention to the diameter of the vegetables you buy. It’s easier to assemble, and subsequently to serve, if your slices of squash, zucchini, and tomato are roughly the same diameter.

Turn on the oven to preheat to 400˚F. Pull out a 13x9 inch baking teaspoon, grease the inside well (either with butter or oil) and then set it aside. 

Before you start any real cooking, we need to do some prep “draining” the tomatoes, zucchini and squash of some liquid so that they cook more evenly and easily. Toss the zucchini and squash slices with 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl. Transfer them to a colander and place that over the bowl to catch the juice they will release. Let them stand for about 45 minutes until they have released a substantial amount of liquid.

While you wait, lay out a few layers of paper towel and arrange the tomato slices on top of them. Sprinkle them with some salt and let them stand for 30 minutes.

After you finish that step with the tomatoes and while you’re waiting for everything to finish draining, we’ll caramelize some onions. So get out a non-stick skillet and heat about a teaspoon of olive oil in it over medium heat. Add the onions, and some salt and pepper. Cook stirring occasionally until the onions are soft and golden brown, which should take about 20 minutes. Set the onions aside for later use.

When the zucchini and squash finish draining, arrange the slices on a few layers of paper towels and cover them with a few more layers. Then press down firmly on the slices to force out even more liquid. Do basically the same thing with your tomatoes. Vegetables successfully drained!  

Now we just need to assemble and put this in the oven. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, 2 teaspoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon pepper, and the thyme. Transfer the zucchini and squash to a large bowl and pour half the liquid over them and toss.

Now let’s assemble. Take your greased baking dish and arrange the squash and zucchini slices evenly inside (overlapping them and alternating colors creates a nice visual effect!). Then arrange the caramelized onions in an even layer over the squash. On top of that do a layer of tomatoes (its fine if the slices overlap here as well). Spoon the remaining garlic-oil mixture evenly over the top. Then put it in the oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes, just until the tomatoes start to brown and the veggies are tender.

While that cooks, we’ll doctor up the breadcrumbs for our gratin crust! In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, a teaspoon of olive oil, the parmesan and the shallots. Mix well. When the veggies are done with their initial cooking, pull the baking dish out and increase the oven temperature to 450˚F. While the baking dish is out of the oven, sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly all over the top of the tomatoes. Put it back in the oven and bake it for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese bubbles and is brown. Take it out of the oven, sprinkle it with basil and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before you serve it.

You could easily eat this for dinner, but the longer you let this cool, the easier it will be to slice up for lunch. Plus, I sound like a broken record here, but it tastes better at room temperature. So take a nice big slice with you to work and throw some arugula next to it.