She's back. With no regrets and with a recipe: Tian

Well, first of all, Annalena would like to thank everyone who expressed concern about her absence. More, she would like to thank those (and you know who you are, especially YOU, Chris), who kept on saying "you have to keep on writing. You have to, you have to, you have to." I WAS indeed close to folding the tent here. In addition to feeling that I had said all I wanted to say, I didn't think anyone would miss it. Well, I was wrong. So, thank you all. And now, I shall return to the joy of sharing my joy: cooking, with all of you. And we will start with something that there is precious little time to make, but is so good, you should make it: tian.
I do not know the origin of this word. It is NOT Asian, although it sounds a bit like it doesn't it? I suspect it is from a dialect like Provencal, or some other southern French dialect. To my ear, it bears resemblance to the Italian "tiella", which is similar in style, and is a classic of Pugliese cooking. Were I more inquisitive, I would start a google search and find it. I will leave it to more flexible minds (Sue? Are you paying attention?), to uncover the roots.
As I learned, a "tian" is more of a concept than a specific dish. And you all know how that takes on with Annalena. It is definitely a dish of late summer, or , as it is now fall, let us say "warm fall." There is still time to make this. The vegetables are still there and, since they will not be at their peak, and it is a baked dish, perhaps it will be better now than when you have, for example, beautiful summery tomatoes that beg you to simply slice them, salt them, and eat them.

Here we go. Start by cooking, as I was instructed "a mess of onions." I swear, that is what I was told. What is a mess of onions? Well, for me , it was a large panful. You don't need to be precise here, but you do need to do them. I use a mix of yellow and red onions. Slick your pan with olive oil, and then add circular slices of onion to the oil, which you will have heated, together with some salt, and a nice measure of chopped garlic. Cook this, until the onions have softened.

While this is going on, start preheating your oven to 400 degrees. Also, get a 9x13 baking dish, be it glass or ceramic and coat it with olive oil.

When your onions have cooked to the point of softness, toss in some chopped herbs, or even dried herbs here. You will get different flavors, both valid.

Let the onions alone for awhile, whilst you prepare your vegetables. Slice enough summer squash - and you CAN use the big ones if you have them - to make one or even two layers on the baking sheet. Do the same thing with eggplant, peeled or not, and also, tomatoes. The bigger tomatoes are better here, and heirloom are my preference, but beefsteak are good.

Now, take that pesto out of the refrigerator you have sitting in there. And if you don't (i) shame on you and (ii), use a flavorful olive oil instead.


Now, let's assemble the dish. Put the mess of onions on the bottom of the pan. Layer the squash, and either spoon some pesto or splash some olive oil on them. Put some herbs on them if you don't have pesto. Follow this with the tomatoes, and again, pesto or oil and herbs. Finally, the eggplant, and again, the oil and herbs, or the pesto. Finally, give the whole thing a nice sprinkle of salt.

This will feel like you need a crain to lift it into the oven. Good. Cover it with aluminum foil, and then put the thing in the oven. Let it bake for twenty minutes, and then, take off the foil. The eggplant will be softening, and the tomatoes dissolving. The squash, benefitting from the bath of flavors, will also be tender. Bake it uncovered for twenty minutes more and you are done.

I like this at room temperature, alongside of grilled meat. It is also wonderful cold, if you have one of the few hot days we will have left, or if, like faithful reader Christa, you will have more than a few. Cold, it goes well alongside some shrimp or fish. It also serves well on top of pasta (something Chris would never do, but on the other hand, Johnny is out there, and...).

By the way, if this sounds an awful lot like ratatouille to you, you're not far off. Having said that, the taste is quite different.

Try it. I think that you are going to like it.

Yes, I am back. And we will be having fun. Next time around, we're going to make fun of a recipe by a major cooking force, and make homemade potato chips. Yes indeed.