Autumn Tian Recipes

VEGETABLE TIAN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Brush a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with olive oil. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.
• Slice the potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.

AUTUMN TIAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wrap beets tightly in parchment-lined foil. Roast on a baking sheet until tender, about 1 hour, 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Peel and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.
• Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Toss onion with 1 tablespoon oil and half of thyme. Season with salt and pepper and arrange in the bottom of a 3-quart round or oval gratin dish. On a cutting board, stack 1 slice each potato, beet, and tomato. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining vegetables, keeping each stack separate. Transfer stacks to dish and shingle to overlap slightly. Sprinkle with remaining thyme and drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil. Cover tightly with parchment-lined foil.
• Bake 30 minutes. Uncover; drizzle with remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Bake, uncovered, until vegetables are tender and tomatoes are caramelized, about 35 minutes more. Let cool slightly before serving.

VEGETABLE TIAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil in a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Add onion, garlic, and oregano, and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.
• Arrange remaining vegetables over onion mixture, alternating carrots, zucchini, and potato, and overlapping each. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Cover with parchment, then foil. Roast in oven for 20 minutes. Uncover, drizzle with remaining tablespoon oil, and roast, basting with pan juices every 10 minutes, until tian is light gold, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly; serve.

SEASONAL VEGETABLE TIAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leek and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Spread in a 9-inch gratin or round baking dish.
• Arrange vegetables on leek in slightly overlapping circles, alternating zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and eggplant.
• Top with wine, 1 tablespoon oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Bake 30 minutes. Drizzle with remaining oil. Bake until vegetables are tender, 30 minutes more. Serve with Parmesan.

TIAN

Steps:

• In a pot, boil 2 inches of water for blanching tomatoes. Place an 8- or 9-inch cast-iron skillet on a burner over low heat, and add butter to melt.
• Peel the potatoes, and slice on a Japanese mandoline into 1/4-inch-thick disks, then arrange in a single layer circle covering the bottom of the cast-iron skillet with its melted butter, keeping the skillet on the burner and leaving the heat on while you start to build the tian.
• Add a second layer of potato slices, and season with salt and pepper, add a drizzle of olive oil and cover with a lid to slightly steam while you slice the yellow onion.
• Peel the onion, then slice into even 1/4-inch or thinner rounds. The Japanese mandoline is sometimes too narrow to use for this, so you may have to use a sharp knife and do it manually.
• Layer abundantly half the onion rings evenly around the pan on top of the steamed potatoes, season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil, and recover the pan with a lid while you slice the zucchini.
• Slice the zucchini into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, and layer half of them in concentric, just-overlapping shingled circles over the onions to create a neat layer. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with oil and recover with the lid while you blanch the tomatoes.
• Season the now-boiling water with a few good pinches of salt, and drop the tomatoes into the boiling water. As soon as their skins split - about 30 seconds - retrieve the tomatoes and run under cold water to quickly cool enough to handle; set aside.
• Build another ring of potato around the tian on top of the now-steaming zucchini, this time just a single layer. Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper and recover with the lid to steam a bit while you slip the skins off the tomatoes.
• Layer the other half of the onions as before, season and drizzle and replace the lid as before, while you split the tomatoes in half horizontally with a small sharp knife.
• Add final layer of zucchini to the tian, and season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Cover, and let steam while you heat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Place the tomatoes around the top of the tian evenly, and sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top evenly. Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. (If your skillet threatens to bubble over, slip a sheet pan underneath to prevent any burned wreckage in the bottom of your oven.)
• With a spoon, baste, and drizzle the pan juices that accumulate in the tian over the top when you remove it from the oven at the end. Allow the tian to cool, settle and kind of meld for an hour before eating.

COURGETTE & TOMATO TIANS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Drizzle a large baking sheet with a little olive oil. Arrange a row of alternate courgette and tomato slices over the sheet with a garlic slice in between each. Repeat to make 8 rows. Scatter with the herbs, season and drizzle with the oil.
• Bake for 20-25 mins until the vegetables are tender. Remove from the sheet with a palette knife and set a row on each plate.

BAKED TOMATOES, SQUASH, AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil over medium and cook onion until tender and lightly golden, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Arrange the onion on the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Overlap tomato, squash, and potato on top of the onion. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with thyme and Parmesan, and drizzle with more oil.
• Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden, 30 minutes more.

PROVENCAL VEGETABLE TIAN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil in a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Layer half the leeks in dish, then cover with half the potato; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Top with a layer each of half the eggplant, half the zucchini, and half the tomatoes; season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Scatter with half the olives and half the thyme. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil. Repeat layering and seasoning with remaining vegetables. Drizzle with remaining oil, and cover loosely with foil.
• Bake 20 minutes, then remove foil. Press vegetables down with a spatula, and bake until potato is tender and edges are well caramelized, about 45 minutes more. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing.