22 Jul 2020

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Some days I just want to make something pretty. I knew this dish would be stunning, but wasn’t expecting it to make my home smell like the French countryside and taste like a warm hug.

As I laid this classy lady onto the dinner table, in front of my audience of 6 year olds, I was sure they would be impressed by my artful composition…just as soon as they finished their banter on farts. I think we know how that turned out. But they ate it! A small miracle.

While this looks like you spent all day slaving in the kitchen, it is incredibly simple and doesn’t require much more than slicing up those abundant Summer vegetables – tomato, zucchini and eggplant – sauteeing some onions and garlic, and topping with a simple breadcrumb, thyme and parmesan mixture.

This recipe comes from Thomas Keller’s cookbook, Ad Hoc. We ate this as dinner with some crusty bread and it was perfect. It would be lovely as a side dish, as well.

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Summer Vegetable Gratin

  • Author: adapted from Thomas Keller
  • Prep Time: 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 – 1.5 hours
  • Total Time: 1.5 – 2 hours
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Scale

Ingredients

  • 2–3 tomatoes, Romas or small tomato around 2″ in diameter
  • 2 zucchini or squash or a combination
  • 1 eggplant
  • Olive or vegetable oil of your choice
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped onion 
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • Olive oil for dressing vegetables and drizzling before serving
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs or Panko

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
  2. Slice vegetables so they are similar in size. Slice the tomatoes and zucchini/squash into 1/4-inch slices. If you have a large globe eggplant instead of a skinny Japanese eggplant (like I did), simply cut into 1/4-inch slices and then cut into quarters. 
  3. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and season with salt. Reduce heat and cook without browning, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 20 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon of thyme.
  4. Toss the zucchini/squash and eggplant with olive oil and salt in a bowl. 
  5. Drizzle the tomato slices with olive oil and salt.
  6. Combine Parm, bread crumbs and remaining 1 teaspoon of thyme in a small bowl.
  7. Spread the onion mixture in the bottom of a 13-ish inch gratin dish or shallow baking dish. 
  8. Layer the vegetables is rows, working on the diagonal. Sprinkle the breadcrumb topping on each row before starting the next row. Slightly overlap each row. Finish with any remaining topping and a sprinkling of salt.
  9. Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the vegetables are completely tender. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Before serving, put under broiler to brown the top.Â