Summer Zucchini and Tomato Gratin is the best of both worlds - fresh healthy vegetables with perfectly seasoned bread and butter!
Summer Zucchini and Tomato Gratin
Serves: 4
Serving size: ½ cup
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
· 1 tablespoon butter
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
· 1 medium yellow or white onion
· 2 cloves garlic
· Salt and pepper
· 2 young zucchini
· 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
· 2 tablespoons parsley
· 1 tablespoon basil
· 2 tablespoons butter, melted
· 1 cup Italian bread crumbs
· ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Grease a casserole dish with cooking spray.
Over medium heat, melt butter and olive oil together. Cut off the ends of the onion and discard the papery layers of skin. Quarter the onion lengthways and cut into ¼” slices. Add onion to the pan and sweat until translucent, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle in two pinches of salt and a pinch of pepper into the pan. While onion is cooking, smash garlic with the flat side on your knife and discard paper. Dice garlic finely and add to pan. Cook through, about 2 minutes. Watch the heat. Garlic burns before you know it and then it’s gross and your husband makes that fake smile face.
Cut off the ends of the zucchini and quarter lengthways, like the onion. Cut into a large dice, about the size of a gumball. Cut tomatoes in half. The tomatoes and zucchini should roughly be the same size. Chop parsley and basil together. In a medium mixing bowl, combine zucchini, tomato, herbs and onion-garlic mixture. Take a taste of the mixture and make sure you have enough seasoning and enough herbs. If not, add some.
In a separate bowl, combine butter, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. The consistency should resemble gravel more than sand. Yummy, huh?
Pour the vegetable mixture into the greased casserole dish and top with the bread crumbs. Make sure the crumbs cover the top of the vegetables, but don’t flatten the crumbs. Leave some peaks and valleys. Bake for 35 minutes or until bread crumbs are toasty brown. Remove from oven and let the gratin rest for a few minutes before serving to thicken up sauce.
