Tian - Baked veggies

Summer brings back my Mediterranean/French vibe with some Mediterranean recipes. After stuffed tomatoes and eggplants parmigiana, I made a tian. A tian is a typical Southern France recipe of baked summer veggies. Here I used what I had from my garden - zucchini and tomatoes - plus a few small potatoes. But you can also use eggplants and onions (Silly me I forgot the red onions!).

The principle is easy: slice finely all the veggies, alternate each of them into colorful layers, pour 15cl of water at the bottom of the dish, put a dash of olive oil on the top, some thyme, salt and pepper. Bake for 25 mins at 180C fan bake. That said, baking time may change depending on the size of the dish and the thickness of the veggies slices.Cover the dish with foil if the top start coloring too much while all vegges are not yet cooked through.

A very simple dish, but visually stunning and authentic flavours straight from the garden.
It suits perfectly any barbecued or grilled meat and much more!

Eggplant parmigiana

Today I made a yummy eggplant parmigiana (or baked eggplants with parmesan) following my nonna's recipe. I just slightly modified it to use some leftovers of roasted chicken. Serve with green salad or pasta if you really wants some carbs - that was a no-no for me trying to manage my weight after a decadent holiday trip.

Follow the instructions and travel to Italy!

And because, we never waste anything in my kitchen - it's not that dinosaurs eat really anything though - tonight I made bruschetta with the leftovers of the eggplant parmigiana. Take a slice of bread (which was a leftover of a cereal loaf I made two days ago), spread the eggplants parmigiana previously chopped, add tasty cheese on the top, 8 mins under the grill and there you go!

Ingredients (4-6 serves)

- 3 eggplants, large, sliced in the length, between 0.5 and 1cm

- 3 cans of peeled tomatoes, finely diced, or lots of fresh ripe tomatoes

- 60 g parmesan, freshly grated

- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

- 5 tsp of olive oil

- 10 basil leaves

- 1 tsp of sugar

- 1 tsp tomato paste

- salt and black pepper

- leftovers of roasted chicken, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions (~ 45 mins) 

Pre-heat the oven, fan grill at 180C.

1. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil and stir the garlic in.

2. Quickly add the tomatoes and pour 1 can of water in. 

3. Stir in the tomato paste and the sugar. Season and add the basil.

4. Leave it on medium heat until it had reduced by half.

5. Brush the eggplants with the remaining oil on each side and precook them either in a frying pan or in the oven at 180C.*

6. Stack one layer of eggplant, then tomato sauce, parmesan and chicken (optional) after the other. Finish with parmesan.

7. Put in the oven for 20-25 mins. If the top starts burning, add foil on the top (which I obviously forgot to do today, hence a black-ish top on my eggplants - fail!)

Enjoy with pasta or green salad!

Good to know...

* I prefer the oven for its time-efficiency and it's less mess in the kitchen. But I prefer in the frying pan for the taste. Just choose the option that suits you the best, at the end they will be good anyway.

Stuffed tomatoes - Tomates farcies

Hello there!!

After nearly 2 months of  interruption due to a big Tiki Tour with my in-laws (yes we all survived this!), I am back, a veggie garden full of healthy goodies and - let's be fair - 6 kg to get rid of! So back on a healthy well-balanced diet, but without compromising flavours and mouth pleasure.

This is a French summer classic: Tomatoes stuffed with beef mince and herbs, usually accompanied by white rice, I chose quinoa and broccoli. There are many version of this recipe; I kept this one pretty simple - after 5 weeks on the roads of NZ, I need rest - so quick, easy and efficient!