Zucchini and tomato gratin is one of my favorite go to side dishes when we have company. Its presentation is impressive, it goes with anything (fish, chicken or beef), it can be assembled ahead of time, and you can pop it in the oven while your having a cocktail. And since Christmas is next week, I thought something red and green would be quite festive!
You need to buy roma tomatoes. Their elongated shape and slender diameter are best for a nice presentation. Try to also find medium zucchini, if they are too skinny they will not be in proportion to the tomatoes. If you can not find fresh thyme than just buy dried thyme.
Make sure to cut the zucchini on a diagonal. First cut off the end and discard.
You will notice that each opposite end of the zucchini slice will have a larger section of peeling showing because of the diagonal cut, like a green top hat. Make sure put the top hat facing up when you layer your gratin. It will make for a more colorful presentation.
You do not need to cut the tomatoes on a diagonal. Just cut off the ends and slice them a little thicker than the zucchini, since they will cook faster. You will get 3 or 4 slices from each roma tomato. Do not try to use the slices close to the end since they will be small in diameter and will not look good in scale with the zucchini. This really is a easy dish, I am making it sound complicated, but in reality I want to explain the importance of the proportion and scale to the outcome of the presentation. I am a designer, so scale and proportion mean more to me than most people. I know I am not normal !
I use a pastry brush to apply the olive oil and garlic on the exposed vegetables. (If you do not have a pastry brush I encourage you to buy one. It will make your life so much easier for so many things including spreading sauce on homemade pizza, spreading olive oil on flat bread, making puff pastry pinwheels, glazing chicken with barbecue sauce, and greasing grill pans)
If you purchase fresh thyme the best way to remove the leaves is to hold on to the top of the stem with one hand and use your other hand to slide down the stem. The leaves will fall off as you squeeze your fingers together and slide down.
I use a vegetable peeler to create parmesan slivers. I like how they melt in spots in different parts of the gratin. The gratin is not covered in cheese, just a few dabs here and there. The cheese adds a nice sharp bite, but not with a lot of heaviness.
Crumble up the parmesan strips you have created with the peeler into little chards. Of course you could simply grate the parmesan, but the parmesan shavings will be so small they will not be as impressive as the larger irregular ones!
Sprinkle on salt and pepper, than half of the thyme, and finally the parmesan shavings. Now grab a glass of wine and relax.
ZUCCHINI AND TOMATO GRATIN RECIPE
Serves 4 as a side dish
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 4 or 5 zucchini (about 1 3/4 pounds)
- 7 roma tomatoes (about 1 1/4 pounds)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- handful of fresh thyme ( or use 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
- 1/3 cup parmesan shavings
- salt and pepper
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Pull out a ovenproof rectangular dish (I use a 8" x 11 1/2", or 8 1/2" x 13").
- Slice the zucchini on a diagonal about 1/4" thick.
- Slice the tomatoes a little thicker than the zucchini since they will cook faster.
- Combine the olive oil and minced garlic
- Layer the zucchini and tomatoes. Begin with the zucchini. Since you cut the zucchini on a diagonal, the zucchini will have one side on each end that shows more of the green peeling. Make sure you have the green ends facing up . End with a row of tomatoes.
- With a pastry brush or a spoon drizzle the garlic and olive oil mixture on all the exposed vegetables.
- Sprinkle with salt and a generous amount of pepper.
- Remove the leaves of the thyme from the stems. Sprinkle half on the vegetables. Save the remaining thyme to sprinkle on after cooking.
- Sprinkle the parmesan on the gratin.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until zucchini is tender with a fork.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle on remaining thyme.