Vegetable Tarte Tatin

Directions

1. VEGETABLE TARTE TATIN 4 Sweet Red Bell Peppers 1-2 medium zucchini, sliced (slice it on the diagonal to make the slices a little bigger) 1 (chinese) eggplant, sliced (if large and not Chinese, salt, rinse and drain, dry on paper towels then slice 1/8 “thick) (tomato, thinly sliced and grilled, should be a little dry.. this is optional) onions, garlic and sliced mushrooms, sautéed 1 tsp mixed herbs or thyme 250 g mild goat cheese blended with sour cream, if desired pastry (I use frozen puff pastry or pate brisee) Oil or butter well, one larger quiche dish or individual soufflé dishes. Char the red bell peppers over an open flame or under the grill in the oven, place in plastic bags to steam, remove skins, then peel and seed. Cut out stems. Slice one side, flatten pepper and use large pieces of flattened pepper to line a large oiled quiche dish. Use enough peppers to line the dish completely, in one layer, bottom and sides. Either grill or sauté zucchini and eggplant slices, brushed with olive oil, ntil just cooked (I usually grill them on a barbeque).Saute onions and mushrooms together and add 1 tsp of mixed herbs. Whip together goat cheese and cooking creme Layer grilled zucchini on peppers, then onion/mushroom mixture, then a layer of goat cheese/cooking creme mixture, then tomato and eggplant slices. Make or roll out pastry to fit the dish. Top mixture with pastry, pulling it right to the edge of the dish. Dot with butter to crisp. Bake in a hot oven (400oF or 200oC) for 5 minutes and then bake at 350oF (180oC) until pastry is golden, about 35mins. Let cool slightly (for about 10 minutes), then invert the quiche dish out onto a large, flat cake plate (on a bed of greens) so that the pastry is on the bottom and the pepper on top. Garnish with parsley, basil or fresh bay leaves. (Some liquid will come out of the dish when you invert it, so be prepared, you can blot up the extra liquid from the edge of the dish with paper towel) I have found that if you do this in a large quiche size, it cuts neatly into pie wedges, if you cool it down in the dish slightly after baking. You can reheat it, if you have prepared it ahead of time, (if you do this, keep it in the dish), then, after reheating, invert it onto a cake plate and slice as you would a pie. Serve immediately after inversion. You can also experiment by adding other vegetables, but always use the roasted red pepper as the dish liner. Enjoy!…….Valerie C. Burton