Summer Vegetable Gratin

Welcome to the second installment of 101 ways to use up excess zucchini! I hope you enjoyed that zucchini bread :)

I can't even express to you how delicious this next recipe is. You're just going to have to take my word for it. Or make it for yourself! I highly recommend the latter. It is time consuming, but not at all difficult. And it's very, very worth the effort!

 
Summer Vegetable Gratin
(serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main course)

Ingredients:

1 extra large (or 2 smaller) zucchini
1 extra large (or 2 smaller) yellow squash
4 large ripe tomatoes
2 tsp. salt

1 large red onion
olive oil (about 5 Tbsp. total)
fresh ground black pepper

1 large slice of bread (I used regular, whole grain sandwich bread, white would work fine, Italian would probably be awesome)
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese (I used the green jar for this part)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried thyme

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Slice zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4" to 1/2" thick slices and place in large bowl. Sprinkle slices with 1 teaspoon of salt, and stir to mix it in. Pour mixture into a strainer, and place back over the bowl until about 3 Tablespoons of liquid is released- about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, place a double layer of paper towels over a baking sheet. Slice tomatoes to same thickness as squash, and arrange in a single layer on the paper towels. Sprinkle with other 1 teaspoon of salt and let stand for about 30 minutes.

Heat about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium/medium-low heat. Slice red onion, place in saucepan with a touch of ground pepper, and slowly let caramelize- about 20 minutes.

Heat oven to about 300, and place slice of bread inside until it dries out a little and becomes slightly crumbly- about 10 to 15 minutes. Grind the bread up in a food processor with the basil, oregano, grated Parmesan, and 1 teaspoon of the thyme. Pour into small bowl and set aside. Afterwards, preheat oven to 400.

Mix the minced garlic, other 1 teaspoon of thyme, and 2 Tablespoons of olive oil together and set aside.

Brush olive oil onto a 9 X 13 glass baking dish. When onions are done caramelizing, spread in the bottom of the baking dish.

When ready, use a double layer of paper towel to squeeze out any addition liquid from the squash, and toss with one half of the garlic/olive oil mixture. Spread the slices over the onions in the baking dish.

Using another double layer of paper towels over the tomatoes, squeeze out extra liquid there. Then, arrange tomatoes in a single layer over squash. Drizzle remaining garlic/olive oil mixture over tomatoes, and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until tomatoes are drying slightly.

Mix about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil with bread crumb mixture to moisten slightly throughout. Remove baking dish from oven and spread bread crumb mixture over tomatoes, and grate Parmesan cheese over breadcrumbs. Heat oven up to 425, and bake until bread crumb topping is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.


Adapted from Erin Cooks, original recipe here.