Tofu and Cupcakes

I hope everyone is enjoying your end-of-summer harvest. I had an overabundance of tomatoes and something like this vegetable tart from Ellie Kreiger is a great way to use some up. I would serve this for a brunch or light lunch. It’s so fresh! And it has those yummy Provençal flavors I’ve been craving all summer.

Shallots are pretty. I sliced these with the mandolin slicer, lickity-split.

These roasted zucchini slices are pretty too. They look like little pinwheels.

The cornmeal crust is parbaked in a tart pan for a few minutes to keep it from getting soft after the veggies go in.

First layer is a double-layer of roasted eggplant slices. I started from the middle and worked my way out.

Then a layer of part-skim mozzarella.

Topped with a little fresh basil.

Then the zucchini pinwheels.

and sautéed shallots.

MORE cheese and basil.

Then roasted tomato slices, homegrown is best!

Finally, a little more mozzarella and Parmesan.

Then you bake it and it comes out of the oven looking like this:

It kind of looks like a pizza, but it doesn’t taste like a pizza. It’s not at all heavy or greasy like a pizza.

delicious!

Like this recipe? You may also like my ratatouille, roasted ratatouille, or soupe au pistou.

Recipe by Ellie Kreiger from The Food you Crave
Ingredients
Crust:

* 2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
* 1/3 cup whole-grain pastry flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 3 tablespoons water

Filling:

* 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
* 2 shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
* Cooking spray
* 1/2 pound thinly sliced eggplant rounds (about 1/3 medium eggplant)
* 1 zucchini, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (about 8 ounces)
* 3 medium tomatoes, sliced thinly
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
* 1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
* 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine cornmeal, pastry flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Add butter and oil and pulse about 20 times, until mixture resembles small pebbles. Add water and pulse until mixture forms a loose dough. Remove dough from processor and press into bottom and about 1/8-inch up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a detachable rim. Press aluminum foil into the bottom and sides of the pan on top of the dough and weigh down with uncooked rice or pie weights. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove rice and foil. Return to oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until no longer shiny and wet. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the filling: Increase the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat; saute shallots until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Spray 2 baking trays with cooking spray. Arrange the eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices on the trays in a single layer and brush with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and roast the vegetables until soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the vegetables from oven and cool.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Lay the eggplant slices in 2 layers on the bottom of tart; cover with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese and some of the shredded basil. Add the zucchini and shallots, top with another 1/3 of the mozzarella and basil, then the tomatoes. Top with rest of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and vegetables have further wilted. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and cut into 8 slices. Serve warm.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 11:00 am and is filed under entrées, plant-based. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.