Tomato & Zucchini Gratin

Folks, don't hate me. I'm not including exact measurements again because 1) I'm not a recipe writer and 2) my recipe and food writer friends will inevitably pick it apart and show me the errors of my ways.  So I give you a very loose interpretation. And besides, it's not like it's a cake or a dozen scones. Add a little of this, a little of that…it'll be ok. Trust me.

You'll need:
roma tomatoes
an onion
a few zucchini
grated cheese (I had Pecorino on hand from a photo shoot but almost any hard cheese could work)
some olive oil
some herbs

Chop the onion and saute until translucent. Next slice roma tomatoes and zucchini into evenly thin slices and layer in a pan or baking dish. I oiled mine because I wasn't quite sure if things would stick, but it's not necessary. Layer the tomatoes, zucchini and sauteed onions and top with a bit of cheese, repeating until you've reached the top of the dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350˚ for 20-30 minutes. After that you'll want to top with a final layer of grated cheese and bake for another 8-10 minutes, uncovered, until cheese melts. I cheated a bit by putting on way more cheese and broiling it for 2 minutes so I'd have a nice color for the photo, but you can certainly do that as well. After cooking I topped with some chopped herbs, let it cool for about 30 minutes and dug in. It was fantastic.

There are quite a few recipes online for tomato gratins. Feel free to look for them if you are the type that needs exact measurements. You certainly will not hurt my feelings!

 

-- Also published on MattBites.com