Summer Vegetable 'Napoleon'
This dish, a sort of layered ratatouille, is more properly called a terrine, but the term 'napoleon' has spilled over to the savory side of many restaurant menus to cover all sorts of dishes made of many layers.
Sun, Oct 18 2009 at 2:59 PM EST
Summer Vegetable 'Napoleon'
Ingredients
- 3 medium red bell peppers, roasted and peeled
- 2 small eggplants (about 1 pound in all)
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 8 ounces Ronde de Nice or other pale green summer squash
- 8 ounces green zucchini
- 8 ounces golden zucchini or yellow sunburst squash
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Time estimates
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 hour 5 min
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400˚F. If you have not already roasted the peppers, quarter them and lay them on a rimmed baking sheet to roast as the oven warms up (allow an extra half hour in this case).
2. Peel the eggplants and slice them crosswise about 1⁄8 inch thick.
3. Cut the slices in half and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Cut the squashes to the same thickness, and keep in separate piles.
5. Lightly oil a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan.
6. Arrange a fifth of the eggplant slices in a layer to cover the bottom of the pan completely.
7. Top with a layer of the light green squash, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, then another layer of eggplant.
8. Alternate eggplant layers with the red pepper, yellow squash and zucchini, seasoning each layer as you go and finishing with a layer of eggplant.
9. Drizzle the oil all over the top and bake uncovered until the terrine shrinks by about a quarter and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 35 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
11. To serve, invert a platter over the pan and turn the whole thing over, then remove the pan.
12. Slice it in a Z pattern into wedges, and serve drizzled with any juices from the pan.
Yield
Serves 6 to 8
Which beer should I drink with this?
Just about any, depending on the main dish.
Technique
A mandoline (including the inexpensive plastic type) is the perfect tool for cutting the vegetables into even slices. Do not trim off the stems of the vegetables, as they make good handles to keep your fingertips away from the slicing blade. You can also use a food processor with a 4-millimeter slicing disk, although the machine tends to slice at random angles unless the food fits perfectly in the feed chute.
The Microbrew Lover’s Cookbook From The Microbrew Lover’s Cookbook, Copyright © 2002 by Jay Harlow. Used by arrangement with Jay Harlow.
Photo: La Vigne/Flickr
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