Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Eggplant, Tomato, and Zucchini Stacks

This dish is very impressive to serve to company because each person gets their own little individual stack of vegetables. Each vegetable really pops out at you, so you have to like all three in order to enjoy this! But the layers of vegetables in addition to the herbs and cheeses make a very nice accompaniment to any meal.

I changed a few things from the original recipe, namely the amount of onions. The original recipe calls for 4 onions, with only 8 servings, so that means each person is eating half of an onion! I knew that wouldn't fly with my family, so I brought it all the way down to one and it still had a nice onion flavor. Additionally, I felt that the "stack" as a whole was a little dry, so I am adding some more cheese to this version of the recipe (can't hurt, right?!).

Onions and herbs


Eggplant, Tomato, and Zucchini Stacks
adapted from Williams-Sonoma
Makes 8 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 yellow onion, diced
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
10 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley or 2 teaspoons dried
1 medium eggplant, sliced into 16 slices
4 medium tomatoes, sliced into 16 slices
4 small zucchini, sliced into 48 slices
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat an oven to 425°F.

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onions, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, basil, oregano and parsley and cook for 2 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat.

Drizzle one tablespoon olive oil over the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking dish. Place 8 eggplant slices in a single layer in the pan and season with salt. Top each with 1/2 tsp. onions and 1 tomato slice and season with salt. Top each with 3 slices of zucchini, then 1 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese.

Repeat layers: eggplant, salt, onions, tomatoes, salt, zucchini, mozzarella cheese.

Drizzle each vegetable stack with olive oil. Bake until the vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes.

Sprinkle each stack with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese and bake for 7 to 10 minutes more. Let the vegetables rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Eggplant ready to be stacked:

First layer complete (without mozzarella):

And ready to eat!

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh man! That is MY KIND of deliciousness right there! btw - I LOOOVE that new picture link thing on your blog! :)

Melissa said...

I just made my own version of these for two different clients over the last few days. How funny!

I usually make a special ricotta mixture that I pile in between the layers for added flavor and creaminess, then serve it alongside my grilled chicken parmigiana.

This is a great to get your veggies in!

What's Cookin Chicago said...

Looks great and healthy!

BMK said...

Beautiful presentation!

Anonymous said...

ooo like the new linky thing!

Jo said...

These look absolutely fabulous and I will definately be adding them to our plates.

Love your blog also - keep up the great work!

Jo

Maria said...

I love everything!! A big stack of all of my favs!!

priscilla joy said...

This looks so good, I'd love some of these 007 Colleen! =)

Sara said...

These do look impressive, I bet they taste great too!

Linds said...

These look great and are such an 'elegant' upgrade from serving just a serving platter of roasted veggies!

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious, and so pretty!

tammymytaxi said...

This is just what I'm looking for. I had this in California and wanted to share with my mom. I want to use slices of mozzarella in between. Have you tried it ?