Summer Vegetable Tian with Black Garlic

This is my version of a Provencale tian des legumes. A tian is a dish of layered overlapping vegetables that are baked in an oven. This vegetable bake is a wonderfully pretty dish to serve to guests and the surprise of the deep earthiness from the black garlic always brings a smile to the vegan faces around the table.

Vegetable tian reminds me of long-past summers in the South of France they are ubiquitous and generally consist of zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and onion - the same vegetables that go into the famous ratatouille vegetable stew from Nice. However, you can put any vegetable in a tian as long as you can slice it and layer it.

My addition of the black garlic paste or ‘crema ajo negro’ makes for a deeper and sweeter flavour, especially when you do not have access to top-quality summer vegetables. Traditionally, a tian is made in an earthenware dish but I make this vegetable tian recipe in a springform cake tin so some of the tomato juices can escape and it allows me to serve the stunning layered vegetable bake intact. The key to this dish is in the preparation; the vegetables must be very thinly sliced and of a similar size. If you can’t get all your vegetables perfect then make sure to hide jagged or mishapen corners at the bottom side of the pan. Each slice must also be very well seasoned with salt and pepper.

This dish is packed with vegetable goodness; fibre vitamins, minerals not to mention all the anti-inflammatory benefits of black garlic.

I usually serve vegetable tian as a vegan side dish but if you want to make a more substantial vegetarian main you can top with some slices of goats cheese such as crottin de chavignol or even just mozzarella for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Vegetable Tian With Black Garlic

Ingredients

• 2 small zucchini (courgettes), thinly sliced into uniform rounds

• 1 medium eggplant (aubergine), thinly sliced into uniform rounds

• 6 tomatoes (at room temperature)

• 1/2 onion, very thinly sliced

• 3 tablespoons of black garlic paste (ajo negro)

• Basil leaves to garnish

• Salt & Pepper

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Slice the courgettes, aubergine, and tomatoes into rounds of a similar diameter. Toss very well in salt and pepper. You will need to season each individual vegetable.

• Line the bottom of a springform cake tin with a round of parchment paper and smear on a layer of the black garlic paste. Carefully layer the thinly sliced vegetables at an angle so that they overlap in the order following order: aubergine, tomato, couple of thin strips of onion, courgette, tomato, onion, aubergine, and so forth.

• Anoint with some extra virgin olive oil and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot or at room temperature, garnished with some fresh green basil leaves.

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