French Vegetable Tian

A wonderful vegetarian dish I used to accompany some chicken breast stuffed with pine nuts, leek and bell pepper. Very simple to make and very versatile, can easily be paired with any meat or eaten on its own.

Ingredients:

- 60 ml olive oil

- 500 gr zucchini, thickly sliced on the diagonal

- 4 garlic cloves, crushed

- 650 gr tomatoes

- 2 medium red onions, chopped

- 60 ml white wine

- a pinch of nutmeg

- 25 gr chopped parsley

- 130 gr grated Gruyere cheese

- a few small sprigs of thyme

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 6x10-inch ovenproof dish with melted butter or oil. Heat half of the oil in a large frying pan, then add the zucchini and half the garlic.

Cook, stirring, over low heat for about 8 minutes or until just beginning to soften. Season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg, Spread evenly into the dish.

Zucchini Gratin with Cherry Tomatoes

After more than two weeks in Africa and some miserable days fighting the malaria pills' side effects, I was able to get up and running again. This time I bring you a vegetarian dish I would have liked to eat when I was in West Africa: zucchini, cheese and cherry tomatoes in an easy to make, tasty dish.

To make this, you'll need:

Tagliatelle (or Fettuccine) with Zucchini and Parmesan-Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 4 ounces dried tagliatelle (or fettuccine)
• 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 tsp fresh grated lemon zest
• 1/8 cup white wine
• 3/8 cup chicken stock or broth
• 1/6 cup heavy cream
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus Parmesan curls or more grated cheese, for garnish (if desired)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetarian Lasagna

About two weeks ago we had another party in the office and, as I seem to be the designated cook for such functions, I had the very important task to cater the entire lunch. So I made manicotti, raw broccoli salad, the vegetarian lasagna and three colours chocolate mousse cake for a colleague that was celebrating her birthday.

This post is for GreenGirl, I hope it will help her find some time for herself ;) (excuse the elbow, I didn't know there was a photo shoot going on :D).

Ratatouille

The ingredients:

It's better to use fresh tomatoes, but I did not have any available and I didn't like the ones at the store, so I decided for the canned version.