Tomato, Zucchini, Squash and Caramelized Onion Gratin
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 by Pam
Our friends invited us for dinner and I was asked to bring a side dish. I was craving something warm and comforting since it had been raining all day. I had a zucchini and a yellow squash to use up so I decided to try a gratin. Gratins normally have a rich white sauce that accompanies the vegetable but I wanted to keep it a bit healthy so I opted to use Parmesan cheese instead. I wanted it to be creamy so I threw in a layer of caramelized onions and garlic. It was beautiful, full of great veggies and flavors, easy to make and totally delicious! It went really well with my friend Kyle's Turkey Moussaka (which was amazing and I can't wait to re-create it). We had a lovely evening with friends, drank great wine, watched our kids play together and ate a spectacular dinner. A good night indeed.- 6-7 large Roma tomatoes, sliced
- 1 large zucchini (or 2 small ones), sliced
- 1 large yellow squash (or 2 small ones), sliced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 onions, sliced
- 1 clove of garlic, sliced very thin
- 1/4-1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 2-3 leaves of basil, chopped for garnish
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a large and deep baking dish (I used a large corning ware casserole dish) with olive oil cooking spray. Slice the zucchini, yellow squash, onion and tomatoes into thick slices.Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is hot add the onion slices and sauté for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and caramelized- make sure you season with sea salt to taste. Add the garlic to the onions and sauté, stirring frequently for 60 seconds then remove from heat and let cool.
Layer the dish with first tomatoes then yellow squash, a bit of Parmesan then the layer of caramelized onions and garlic, then the zucchini and finally the last layer of tomatoes. I seasoned each layer (except the onions) with a little bit of sea salt and pepper. Top with the remaining Parmesan cheese and sprinkle the dried basil on top and cover with a lid or tin foil.
Click here for a printable version of this recipe
A wonderful evening with great friends
Posts
This looks wonderful. A perfect side dish, or a main course if you ask me. I love that you didn't use a cream sauce.
What a beautiful vegetable dish! Delish!
I love your food Pam! I want to have a potluck with you! This looks great and is so my style, healthy but delicious!
u had me at zucchini and parmesan...wow..a must try! zucchini is my favorite veggie ^_^
I really like the sound of this gratin. It looks so tasty.
Everything thing you make looks so wonderful :) Looks like you had a lot of fun too!
All of the veggies look amazing Pam. Even your kids enjoy vegetables? You know you're a great cook when that happens :)
Yeah a wonderful way to enjoy the delicious foord you made with good friends.
OK, THIS is speaking to me. It's going on the list of morsels to make. I make a zucchini squash casserole but never did it with caramelized onions. Thank you!!!!!!
Right up my alley. I've made a similar dish - this one looks great. I'm going to put it in my recipe file!
Looks gorgeous, I have a thing with sliced tomatoes, I try to avoid them for no reason, your gratin makes me wanna try it all over again. Still... do you think I can replace tomatoes with something else? ;)
Imagine your life without evenings like these...pretty grim?
I love this recipe...except for the cheese, it is healthy and definitely worth drooling over!
Gratin...cheese...yum! Cheese sells veggies to everyone, doesn't it?
Not having tried any of this it seems so alien, but would relish being able to try the taste.
The pictures are lovely.
This dish looks fabulous! I love how your food always has such rich flavor.
Gorgeous all the way around! Love it!
Love this...it looks delicious...there are so many recipes I have bookmarked from your blog to try...:-)
This is like a TIAN that I make.
I love this dish!
Fall is so nice because squash is in full gear!
zucchini is so versatile. I love it!
Stacey
this doesn't need any cream sauce, or anything else for that matter--fantastic!
Evenings with friends or family are my favorite!
This gratin looks like the best thing to dive a fork into! It has all of my favorite! Keep cooking!
I love how your gratin looks!!!! That crispy golden top crust really complements the lovely colors of the dish, doesn't it!
What a great way to make vegetables look delicious!
Wow! You can even make zucchini look good.
These photos are terrific! I love squash and cheese and tomatoes and basil and onions ...etc! This looks so pretty, and I bet your friends loved it! How fun to get together with the entire family and share a meal! Smiles all around, I'm sure!
So simple, it looks delicious. Must try!
You never cease to amaze me, yet another wonderful recipe. This is definitely on my must make list.
I made this for a collective effort dinner with a few friends last weekend. It was "yummo" as one friend exclaimed. Actually, I enjoyed it so much I made it again the next night for dinner. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes, photos and taking the time to manage your blog.
I just made this for my parents who came to town last night. It was delicious! Thanks for all the great recipes Pam - people are actually starting to think I can cook!