Roasted Vegetable Napoleons Recipes

ROASTED EGGPLANT AND TOMATO NAPOLEONS WITH BLACK OLIVE DRESSING

Steps:

• For the black olive dressing, combine all ingredients and allow to sit for at least 2 hours, covered and refrigerated, for flavors to develop. For the poached garlic in the basil puree, place unpeeled garlic cloves in a small saucepan and cover by 1-inch of cold water. Bring to a boil, drain and repeat process 2 more times. Remove husk from garlic, chop. For the basil puree, blanch the basil in lightly salted boiling water for about 5 seconds. Remove and immediately plunge into ice water to stop the cooking and set the color. Drain well, squeeze dry and chop. Add to a blender along with poached garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and enough stock to make a smooth puree. Store in refrigerator.;
• To oven dry tomatoes for napoleons, cut tomatoes in half and remove stems. With your fingers gently squeeze and remove the seeds. Lightly oil a baking sheet, place tomatoes and season lightly with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Place in a preheated 225 degree oven for 3 to 4 hours or until tomatoes are somewhat shriveled and have the faintest bit of color on them. For the napoleons, slice the eggplants into 12 (1/2-inch) thick rounds and generously paint both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in a preheated 400 degree oven until cooked through and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside. Oil, season and roast remaining vegetables in the same manner and set aside. Be sure not to overcook, vegetables should still have some texture. To assemble the napoleons, on a lightly oiled baking sheet start with a round of eggplant and top with slices of zucchini, onions, peppers, mushrooms and oven dried tomatoes and cheese. Repeat the layers, ending with an eggplant slice for each napoleon. Place a rosemary spear in the center of each napoleon to hold it together. To serve, Place baking sheet with napoleons in a preheated 375 degree oven for a few minutes to warm through and barely melt cheese. Place on warm plates and spoon the black olive dressing around. Top with drops of the reduced Balsamic vinegar, fresh basil puree and garnish with herb sprigs. Serve immediately.;

VEGETABLE NAPOLEON WITH GRILLED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM AND TOMATO BASIL BISQUE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper and saute until they begin to soften. While they are cooking, cut fresh tomatoes in half, squeeze out seeds. Stir the fresh tomatoes into the skillet along with tomato paste and diced canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and simmer partially covered to integrate flavors, about 5 minutes. Add stock and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Season portobello mushrooms with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Place on baking sheet in oven for 10 minutes.
• Remove pan of tomato mixture from heat, stir in cream and season with salt and pepper, to taste. While the mushrooms are in the oven, puree sauce in batches in food processor. Remove mushrooms from oven and let cool.
• To assemble napoleon, place a portobello on serving plate. Top with 1 slice of cheese followed by a slice of tomato, then another slice of cheese, another tomato slice and the second portobello on the top layer. Ladle warm sauce over the vegetable napoleon and finish with a basil sprig, for garnish.

OVEN ROASTED VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Spray a baking pan with cooking spray.
• Mix olive oil and onion soup mix together in a bowl. Combine potatoes, baby carrots, bell peppers, and onion in a large bowl; add oil mixture and mix until evenly coated.
• Roast in the preheated oven until vegetables are tender, 15 to 30 minutes.

VEGETABLE NAPOLEON OR REMY'S RATATOUILLE IN ROASTED PEPPER SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare the first 4 peppers by first cutting off the top and bottom and discarding inedible portions. Then cut down the sides so they form solid squares. You can usually manage to get about 3 pieces from each pepper that are 2 inches square each. Throw all pieces, including excess edible portions into a baking pan. Gut the two peppers for the sauce and cut into manageable pieces. Place them in pan as well.
• To prepare other vegetables, cut off top and bottoms, discarding inedible portions. Slice eggplant, zucchini, onions and squash into circular pieces. Eggplant should be approx 1/4 inch thick, onion, zucchini and squash can be any thickness desired under 1/8 inch. Place all edible pieces in baking pan.
• Coat all vegetables in olive oil.
• Roast in oven (500 degrees) for up to 30 minutes until edges of pepper are beginning to blacken and other vegetable centers become soft enough to poke with a fork.
• Grill 6 slices of eggplant on skillet and lay out individually on a cooking-sprayed cookie sheet.
• Then grill 12 slices of bell peppers. Place one on each stack of vegetables. The other 6 will be another layer after the next step.
• Next, grill zucchini slices and places enough on each pepper slice to cover fully. Throw excess into blender or food processor.
• Now stack other grilled bell peppers on top of stacks. ALL other pepper not yet used, including those specifically made for the sauce should be thrown in the blender.
• Grill squash and place enough slices on each stack to cover peppers fully. Throw excess into blender.
• Place onion slices on top of stack.
• Top each stack with a generous helping of mozzarella cheese (or one slice).
• Place cookie sheet in oven (350 degrees) for approx 15 minutes or until all cheese is completely melted.
• While the pieces are in the oven puree the excess vegetables and put in a large saucepan. Add the juice in the bottom of the pan from roasting the vegetables as well as the whipping cream and veggie broth.
• Season sauce as desired. I personally added parsley and pepper flakes for a sweet and spicy combination.
• Heat on medium-high until throughly mixed into a creamy sauce.
• To serve, place one napoleon on a plate and pour pepper sauce on top until well covered.