The lowly zucchini, transformed: curried zucchini tian

Some time ago, Annalena wrote about tians.  This is another one of those families of dishes where the name of the vessel used to cook it, has become the name of the dish.  You know a lot of them.  Yes, you do.  Think you don't? Well, ok:  casserole.. paella.  cassoulet.


See what Annalena means?  "Tian," as she found out some time ago, is an old dialectical word from Provence.  And it makes sense when you see recipes for tians:  they almost always involve what we think of as "Mediterranean" or "southern European" cooking.  They involve basil, tomatoes, eggplants, onions, and in this case, zucchini.  BUT... we're going to do this a bit differently, and we're going to combine it with something that, at first glance does not seem to work with the squash, but on tasting it, will make you think  "SHEEEYEEET.  Why didn't I think of that before?"

This recipe is pretty close to the one presented by David Tanis in the NY Times not that long ago but as usual, Annalena did her tweeking, to make it easier on herself, and ultimately, ragazzi, on YOU.

Here we go.  Let's measure first.  Get a tablespoon of curry powder.  Any kind you like: you can use hot, very hot, sweet (what Annalena used), JUST MAKE SURE ITS FRESH.  Seriously, ragazzi, old curry is dead curry.  Smell it.  If it doesn't smell, well, exotic, toss it and get some new stuff. Put that to the side, and measure out a half cup of extra virgin olive oil.    Now, mix up in whatever proportion you like , a cup and a half of plain dry bread crumbs and panko.  This, by the way, is a good place to use up any left over bread ends you have lying around.  Annalena happened to have some left over brioche crumbs from her adventure with summer pudding, so she used those, with her panko  (by the way:  did you know that "panko" is Japanese for "small bread?"  Bet you didn't.  See what you learn here?).

You will also want a  BIG onion, or two medium sized ones.  Peel them, half them lengthwise, then turn them on their cut end, and make thin slices.  As usual, there is no need to bring the surgeon's approach here, but try to get them nice and thin

Now, rather than use the pint of halved cherry tomatoes that the recipe calls for, Annalena suggests you get one of those big, misshaped but delicious heirloom tomatoes, and chop it up roughly.  Don't skin it, no need to.  Just put it to the side.  And get yourself a healthy tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs.   Rosemary is what the recipe called for, but you can use thyme, basil, a mix, whatever.  And you can increase the herbs.  Just be careful here, because zucchini, as you know, has no strong flavor.  

We keep measuring.  You need a smidgen of white wine - maybe a third of a cup, a couple of chopped garlic gloves , or more if you like it more (Annalena does, and did), and then you need a healthy two pounds of summer squash.  You can use all of the same kind, or mix them up.  Honestly, the flavor at the end and the color, is not going to show whether you used the same type or mixed them, so use what you have.  You can use the monstrous ones you sometimes find in this recipe, and if you do, please slice them thin, to make sure they cook.

We are ready to start.  Let's preheat our oven to 400, and get a baking dish of some non metallic nature.  It need not be large.  Annalena used an oval, 9 inch pie pan (glass), for this.  Rub oil around the inside of it, and put it aside, while we cook.


Get a medium sized pan - not too big, and dump in the curry powder.  Cook it at medium low heat for no more than a half a minute. You'll smell the spice coming up.  Immediately add 2 tablespoons of that oil, stir it together, and add the bread crumbs.  You might consider adding a teaspoon of salt here.  Cook this all for about 3 minutes, and then, get it out of the pan, immediately.

You can use the same skillet if you like, but if it wasn't too big, you will be frustrated now.  You should use a big one.  Put another two tablespoons of the oil in the pan.  Add the onions, the herbs, and some more salt (again, a teaspoon).  Cook the onions slowly, moving them frequently.  You want them to go to a deep brown caramel color.  Then add your tomatoes, and up the heat.  The water from the tomatoes will keep the onions from burning.  Cook it for about five miuts, and then add the wine.  Cook for another couple of minutes, until the wine begins to boil, and then take the pan off the heat.

Now, we start layering.  You are trying to make three separate layers here, so Annalena suggests you start with small quantities, and work your way up. The order of layering is onion/tomato, then zucchini, and then crumbs.  You put in your zucchini in concentric circles, and if you begin to run out, well.. you ALWAYS have more squash in the house during the summer than you think.  After you have things layered, finishing with crumbs, pour the remaining olive oil over the thing, and put it in the oven.  This is going to bake for a while:  at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half.  It's ready when you stick a fork into the dish, and the zucchini seem ridiculously tender.


You can eat this right out of the oven but Annalena does not recommend doing that.  It tastes better if you let it sit, and rewarm it, or served at room temperature.  It's ok cold, but not terrific.

What it is, as you will have noted, of course, is VEGAN!!!!!  Yes, ragazzi, a vegan dish that doesn't taste like one.

So, if you're planning for a party and you have a vegan friend coming and don't know what to serve:  here you go.  Or make it for yourself.  Annalena plans to.  Often.