vegetarian

An easy delicious way to get your daily vegetable servings, this dish is filling enough for a whole meal. Substitutions allowed and encouraged!

Five Vegetable Ratatouille

1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil leaves
1Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 eggplant
2 zucchinis
2 yellow squashes
2 large tomatoes
2 red, yellow or orange bell peppers
1 1/2 cups Cannellini beans
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Olive Oil, salt and pepper

Slice all vegetables to about 1/4 in thickness (slice whole eggplant in half lengthwise then into 1/4 inch thick slices). Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and eggplant and saute about 8-10 minutes or until eggplant is tender. Transfer eggplant to a large mixing bowl. Add in zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, beans, Parmesan cheese, a splash of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Toss well. Transfer to a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake in 350° oven for about 45 minutes.

The Miss likes tomatoes. In fact, they’re my favorite vegetable/fruit, my go-to ingredient, my bright red, tangy, savory, juicy muse. I’ve grown impatient waiting for the itty bitty baby plants in my garden to bear their fruits and fill my salad bowl, so I trekked on over to the Farmer’s Market and stocked up on some super bright greenhouse tomatoes and some lovely fresh eggs. Then I emptied out the produce drawers in my refrigerator and magic happened.

Be forewarned: this is a delicious and beautiful vegetable-packed pie that does demand a bit of your time. Don’t expect to throw this together in less than 30 minutes….but do expect to enjoy every succulent bite!

The ingredients. Awesome colors.

Pesto Vegetable Pie

Pie crust for 1 single-crust pie (Can use store-bought)
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 tbsp. salt
2-4 small potatoes (I used purple potatoes – so pretty!)
3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup shredded Fontina cheese
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cups fresh spinach
2 tbsp. pesto
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

To keep this pie from going soggy, you’ll need to get the tomatoes ready in advance. Chop the tomatoes. Remove seeds and discard. Transfer tomatoes to a strainer and sprinkle liberally with salt. Store salted tomatoes in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. The salt will help draw out extra moisture.

Preheat your oven to 375°.

To prepare the potatoes, scrub them, cover them in cold salted water and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Boil about 6 minutes. Remove from boiling water and allow to cool. Once cooled, slice those potatoes VERY thin.

Break eggs into a small mixing bowl. Whisk in pesto and milk, beating well.

I love how fresh eggs have such bright yellow yolks!

Press your pie crust into a LARGE pie pan….or an oval casserole like I did. Use a fork to prick holes in the bottom of the pie crust and bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven and begin the layering. Make sure to layer in this order – the veggies add a lot of moisture to this pie and the order of layers is strategic! Start with a light sprinkling of cheese.