Tian Time

My family loves this time of year.  As soon as eggplants appear and tomatoes ripen, and peppers are being picked, it is tian time.
 I bought these huge tomatoes at a farm stand.  I always slice them and salt them and let them drain on paper towels when I am preparing this dish.

 I sliced up a few of the candy onions I bought recently and sliced 2 large eggplants.

 Saute' the onions in several tablespoons of good olive oil.  Add some sliced peppers, S & P, and some thyme.  Don't overcook these because they will still cook in the oven.

 Add a copious amount of diced garlic.

Then add lots of diced fresh herbs from your garden.  I used rosemary, sage, parsley and basil.
 Place a layer of eggplant in your casserole dish and sprinkle it with some grated mozzarella cheese.

 Then add a layer of tomatoes.

 In the past, I always used Gruyere and Gouda cheese when I made these.  I forgot to pick some up at the store so I had to use what I had on hand.  I was worried that these wouldn't have enough flavor so I added about 1/3 cup of pesto to the onion mixture.  What a good move!

 Sprinkle more cheese, this time grated Provolone, on top of the tomatoes and then distribute the onion/pepper mixture over it. Pour any juice left in the pot over the top. I sprinkled a layer of crumbled goat cheese on these too.  Another good move.

 Add more eggplant and tomatoes.  I even used some of my sweet cherry tomatoes.

 Finish it off with more grated cheese topped with Parmesan.

 Add some olives to the top.  I used Kalamata.

 I also added some sliced green olives.  Bake these at 350 degrees for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. The juices should be bubbling and look like they have thickened a bit.

 The tops should have a golden crust.

 Let these sit for 30 minutes or so to make them easier to slice.  They are good warm or at room temperature.  I've even seen these being eaten straight from the refrigerator but I am not naming names.

Comments

Jim said…
Very interesting and tasty combinations here!!
I am so surprised you haven't been approached about having your own 'food network' cooking show. Seriously, you'd be a HIT!! Not to mention that everybody in the vicinity would be lining up to either attend the tapings or be part of the production....to hopefully be included in the, shall we say, 'clean up'?!
Anonymous said…
This does look delicious but I've never tried it myself, eggplant isn't big here, I guess we just don't know how to use it properly.

I'm just eating the last pork I made in my slow cooker, I'm so glad You wrote about it here because I had never even heard of it before :-) It was hard to find any here but just after I had bought mine they suddenly started adverticing about them a lot :-) It's perfect!

Have a great day!

Christer.
Craig said…
Fabulous! I'm a huge fan of gruyere and always have some in the fridge to make a cheesy potato bake. These look wonderful.
jerilanders said…
This dish has all the ingredients I love to eat! I am passing the recipe to husband,so he can prepare it for me...I might even do it myself!
lotta joy said…
A good friend sent me this post because I did the very same thing last week: only I used zucchini instead of eggplant and called it "lasagna". I hate those large lasagna noodles, and thickly sliced zucchini replaced them without any difference except for adding TASTE.
Guillaume said…
Very French. Looks delicious.
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

These must produce, an orgasmic reaction.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Tessa
TARYTERRE said…
That is some seriously GOOD food. The lady commenting above me summed it up. I would however go light on the 'copious amount of garlic."
I had to laugh at Tessa! :) Funny, and probably not far from the absolute truth! I also totally agree with Jim!!! I already go nuts over your cooking..and I can't even taste it. But if you would you please, please move to Riverside California before you begin your own show? Not likely I would ever be able to attend in person. :) And the "copious amounts of garlic." Yes! Yes! Yes!! I will probably screw it up but I have to at least try this one. I have to wait until I can walk again..(screwed up my knee) but this is a must try!
Kay said…
Art would go crazy for these!