This potato, eggplant, tomato, and cheddar gratin is a wonderful summer dish and a great way to take advantage of the bounty of fresh vegetables available this time of year.
This potato and eggplant gratin is a great filling dish that you can serve as a main or side dish. The combination of the potatoes and fresh veggies is totally tasty and also makes great leftovers.
The potatoes are tender and the eggplant and tomatoes are flavorful, and then, of course, there's the cheddar cheese.
Ingredients You Will Need:
Potatoes: I used Gemstone Potatoes from Melissa's Produce. They are a combination of small red, yellow, and purple potatoes. They have thin skins and don't need to be peeled. You can also use their baby Dutch potatoes or other mini-sized potatoes.
Eggplant: I used Chinese eggplant, which is slimmer and slightly sweeter. You can definitely use a larger eggplant.
Tomatoes: I used small Heavenly Villagio Marzano Tomatoes, which are shaped like mini Roma tomatoes and are sweet and meaty. Baby heirloom tomatoes would be perfect here too.
For Flavor: Shallots, chopped sweet peppers, dried oregano, and fresh basil.
From the Pantry: Salt and olive oil.
Cheeses: Both Cheddar and Parmesan Cheese. You can also substitute a different cheese, such as Gruyère or Monterey Jack mixed with a little Parmesan.
You can easily adjust the ingredient amounts to your taste.
To Make This Gratin:
First, prep all of the ingredients for assembling the gratin. Slice and briefly boil the potatoes, dry fry the eggplant in a hot skillet, and briefly sauté the shallots and peppers.
After that, cook the potatoes briefly with the shallots and peppers with a little olive oil and oregano.
Next, mix the potatoes and eggplant with the shallot mixture iin a two quart casserole and then top with the sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle on the cheeses and then bake the dish for about an hour, covered for the first 30 minutes.
Let the dish rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Equipment You May Need:
Ideally a pretty 2-quart gratin dish makes a great presentation, but any 2 to 2 1/2 quart casserole dish will work just fine.
Make Ahead:
While this dish is best fresh out of the oven, you can bake this in advance and reheat it later. While I haven't tried it yet, you could assemble the dish in advance and bake it the next day.
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Potato, Eggplant, Tomato, and Cheddar Gratin
This potato, eggplant, tomato, and cheddar gratin is a wonderful summer dish and a great way to take advantage of the bounty of fresh vegetables available this time of year.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt, plus more for boiling the potatoes
- 1 1/4 pounds thin-skinned mini potatoes, washed cut into 1/2 inch slices, and set aside in water.
- 1 pound Chinese or regular eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch slices
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 red or orange bell or long sweer pepper, diced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a 3 quart sauté pan, bring salted water to a boil. Add the potato slices and boil for five minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside on a plate.
- Dry the pan and heat it over medium heat. Add the eggplant slices and "dry fry" them until they begin to brown. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
- Add the olive oil to the pan and add the shallots and peppers, cook over medium heat, stirring, for about five minutes. Add the potatoes and continue cooking for about five minutes more. Stir in the oregano and salt. Remove from the heat.
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 2 to 2 1/2 quart casserole with spray oil. Add the potatoes mixture and the eggplant. Stir and top with the tomatoes. Sprinkle with the basil.
- Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and Parmesan cheese.
- Spray foil with spray oil and top the casserole with the foil. Bake the gratin for 60 minutes, removing the foil halfway through.
- Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
306Fat (grams)
13 gSat. Fat (grams)
4 gCarbs (grams)
41 gFiber (grams)
11 gNet carbs
30 gSugar (grams)
7 gProtein (grams)
14 gCholesterol (grams)
16 mg
