EGGPLANT, RED PEPPER, AND GOAT CHEESE GRATIN

Eggplant, Red Pepper, and Goat Cheese Gratin image

Categories Bread Cheese Pepper Side Bake Vegetarian Goat Cheese Eggplant

Yield serves 6 to 8 as a main course

Number Of Ingredients 18

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Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds small globe eggplants, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, for sprinkling, plus 1/2 teaspoon
2 red bell peppers
3 medium tomatoes
1 head garlic
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence (optional)
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup toasted bread crumbs
3 tablespoons almond meal
12 ounces fresh goat cheese, thinly sliced
1/3 cup oil-cured olives, pitted and halved
1/2 cup fresh whole flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups Greek goat's milk yogurt
2 small pinches saffron threads, soaked in a few tablespoons hot water

Steps:

Prepare a medium heat fire (400°F) in a wood-fired oven or cooker.
Sauté the eggplants in the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat on the stove top, or directly in the wood-fired oven or on the cooker. Cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until soft. Set the eggplant aside on paper towels to drain. Lightly salt both sides.
When there are some hot embers in the fire, place the red peppers, tomatoes, and garlic on the floor of the oven or bottom of the cooker near the embers. Rotate them frequently as the skins blister and char. Cook until the skins are fully charred, 5 to 7 minutes for the tomatoes and 10 minutes for the peppers. Cook the garlic until the skin is slightly charred and the cloves are soft, about 5 to 7 minutes.
In a small bowl, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and mash with a fork to form a paste. Place the charred tomatoes and peppers in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sweat for 10 minutes. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and peppers. Slice open the peppers, remove the stems and seeds, cut into pieces about the same size as the eggplant, and set aside. Slice open the tomatoes and remove the seeds with your index finger or by squeezing gently. Dice the tomatoes and combine with the mashed garlic, herbs, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper.
Brush a clay casserole with olive oil and dust with a mixture of the bread crumbs and almond meal. Reserve the rest of the bread-crumb mixture. Line the casserole with one-third of the tomato mixture, then layer on slices of eggplant, goat cheese, red pepper, and bread-crumb mixture, followed by half of the olives. Salt and pepper each layer. Repeat the layers, finishing with the tomato mixture, parsley, and goat cheese. Whisk the eggs with the yogurt and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in the saffron liquid and pour the custard over the entire casserole.
Bake for 25 minutes in a wood-fired oven, or until the casserole is bubbly and golden on top. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into portions and serving.