Best Vegetable Gratin With Polenta And Smoked Tomato Vinaigrette Recipes

BAKED POLENTA WITH VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet, and sauté the onion for a few minutes; then add the tomato and cook another 2 minutes. Mix in the additional cooked vegetables, salt lightly, and remove from the heat. Put the polenta in a smallish, rather shallow baking dish, and stir in the warm water and remaining olive oil. (Don't forget that if you want leftovers, add the additional amount of polenta and water.) Add the sautéed vegetables, sprinkle on the rest of the salt, and stir everything together. Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 25 minutes, then sprinkle Parmesan on top (I put the third tablespoon over the portion I am going to eat right away). Bake another 5 minutes, or until all the liquid has been absorbed. If I've made the larger amount of polenta, I scoop out the excess and put it aside, eating up all the vegetables with my polenta the first time around.
• You can vary your cooked-vegetable additions to your heart's content-chopped asparagus spears or fiddleheads in spring, perhaps, quartered artichoke hearts, chunks of small zucchini, broccoli florets, and anything else the garden offers in summer. If you don't have roasted red pepper on hand, use about a quarter of a fresh bell pepper, any color, but sauté it first with the onion. If you want a more substantial dish, add some slivers of ham or slices of a cooked spicy sausage. Plan to eat all of these embellishments with your first serving, saving the pure polenta for later.
• Gather the remaining polenta in your hand, and gently shape it into an oval or round piece; if you have too much to handle in one piece, make two. Preheat your broiler. Brush the polenta lightly with olive oil, and set it on the broiler tray or on a baking sheet. Broil the polenta cake until browned and crusty on the top. If you want it doubly crisp, try turning it over and browning the other side. To fry it, film generously with oil a skillet large enough to hold the polenta. Heat the pan, and gently slip in the polenta cake. Fry until browned, then turn and do the other side. Serve with some juicy meat or poultry. Or try it with butter and warm maple syrup for breakfast.

POLENTA GRATIN WITH SAVORY VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Polenta
• Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with a thin coating of olive oil or butter.
• Bring the milk and 3 cups of water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Slowly pour in the polenta, whisking constantly. Continue whisking or stirring until the mixture boils. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Add a little more water if the polenta gets too thick (it should be loose enough to pour, but not runny). Stir in the salt, butter, and the Grana Padano cheese, and pour the mixture into the baking dish. Using a spatula, smooth the polenta into an even layer, 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick. Gently press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the polenta and let it cool for 10 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate it until needed. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables.
• When all the vegetables are ready, top the polenta with the eggplant, then sprinkle with a little fontina cheese and spread the spinach on top. Arrange the mushrooms and garlic confit over the spinach, then a little more cheese. Finish with the red peppers and the remaining cheese.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, until the polenta is heated through. Serve with a tomato basil sauce if desired.
• If you are not serving the polenta immediately, let it cool for 15 minutes, then cover it with plastic wrap, place another pan of the same size on top, and weight it down, using 3 or 4 pounds. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. Pressing the vegetables in this manner helps them meld with the polenta; however, you shouldn't use so much weight that you make a flat "pizza." This also makes the gratin easier to cut into neat squares. Then you can serve this dish as I do at the restaurant-simply reheat individual squares in the oven. Portions can also be tightly wrapped in plastic and frozen for up to 2 months.
• Savory Vegetables Topping
• Prepare 2 recipes of Garlic Confit. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• Remove the seeds from the peppers and cut them into strips or dice. Set aside. Place the eggplant in a large bowl with 1 cup of water, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and a generous pinch of salt. Toss the eggplant well to coat, then transfer it to a baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes (flipping once), or until golden brown and soft. Use a metal spatula to flip the eggplant once during cooking.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté them (in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding the pan) until golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Season them with salt and pepper, then transfer to a plate and cool. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel, if necessary, and heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and a pinch of salt and cook, turning frequently with tongs, for 2-3 minutes, until just wilted. Use a strainer to drain it.

SUMMER VEGETABLE GRATIN

Steps:

• Make the base layer: In a large, heavy ovenproof skillet or enameled cast-iron pan (10 to 12 inches across), combine onions and olive oil and heat to a sizzle, stirring to separate. Add bell peppers, red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook, stirring, over low heat until peppers are very soft and onions are browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and remove garlic, leaving remaining mixture in the pan.
• Meanwhile, make the topping (if using): Core tomatoes and slice them 1/4 inch thick. Lay on paper towels to drain for 10 minutes. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add tomatoes and cook very slowly, turning once or twice, until liquid has bubbled away and flesh is cooked through, about 8 minutes. (Do not overcook, or tomatoes will fall apart.) Turn off heat and let slices cool in skillet; they will continue to dry out. Tear baguette into pieces and pulse in a food processor to make coarse, fluffy, pea-size crumbs. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the cheese and pulse to combine.
• Assemble the gratin: Heat oven to 425 degrees. (If your oven has a convection feature, use it, reducing baking temperature to 400 degrees.) In a large bowl, combine oil, zucchini and squash, and toss well until lightly and evenly coated. Add basil, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and toss again.
• On top of the base layer in pan, arrange squash and zucchini slices around the inner rim of the pan, standing on their edges in roughly alternating colors. Pat down into the pan so slices overlap and lie down, like shingles or fallen dominoes. Repeat to make another circle inside the first, and again if necessary, until pan is filled. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Brush oil over the top of the gratin and transfer to oven. Bake 30 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 450 degrees (425 degrees for convection), or heat the broiler.
• If not using topping, brush surface again with oil. If using topping, arrange tomato slices in one layer on top of the par-baked gratin. Spread bread-cheese mixture over tomatoes and press down gently.
• Bake or broil until vegetables are browned around the edges or crust is crisp and golden. Let cool slightly and serve hot or at warm room temperature. Garnish each serving with herbs.