This French recipe is known as a tian, which is simply a baked dish of layered vegetables. This is a showstopper of a dish that looks far more complicated to make than it actually is. The flavour is delicate and herbal, but can be changed up to any herbs you prefer or have on hand. This tian pairs very well with virtually any meat or fish. This recipe is easily made dairy-free and even vegan, by substituting the butter with olive oil.

I found the original recipe on website Southern Living, and stuck to most of it, but added the herbs and spices I thought would better complement the vegetables than simply salt and pepper. Feel free to switch-up the herbs for ones you have available to you and/or are more to your taste.

This delicate-looking casserole is best assembled using a mandolin slicer for thin, even slices of potato and zucchini (note: tomatoes are not a fan of mandolin slicers), but if you don’t have one, do your best to make the thinnest slices you can while keeping them of even thickness. This will ensure even cooking. Full disclosure, I misread the recipe and ended up slicing double the number of potatoes needed, so I doubled up the potatoes in the assembly, as they were super-thin. Turned out fine. Still had some left after the assembly; they made a delicious fry-up the next morning. No regrets.

Zucchini-Potato Casserole

YIELD: 6 svgs | PREP: 20 mins | 60-70 mins | REST: 10 mins

• Cooking spray
• 2 tbsp/30g salted butter
• 2 medium-size onions, peeled, halved and slices thinly
• ¼ tsp/0.5g dried dill
• ¼ tsp/0.5g dried marjoram
• ¼ tsp/0.5g dried summer savory
• ¼ tsp/0.5g dried Herbes de Provence
• 1 tsp/5g Kosher salt
• 1 tsp/3g freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 medium-size Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 medium-size zucchini, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 4 plum tomatoes, sliced
• 2 tbsp/30g butter, melted
• 2 tsp/7g lemon pepper
• ⅓ cup/70g freshly grated Parmesan or Gruyere cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375°F/190°C and spray a 10″ quiche pan or deep-sided pie plate with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Combine the 4 herbs together in a small dish.
3. Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a medium skillet over medium heat; add onions and sprinkle with salt and pepper; add HALF of the herb mixture, and sauté 10 to 12 minutes or until tender and onions begin to caramelize. Allow any liquid to cook off.
4. Spoon cooked onions into prepared baking dish to cover the bottom but not the sides; set aside.
5. Gently toss together potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, 2 tbsp melted butter, lemon pepper and remaining herbs. Arrange potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in a single layer over onions, alternating and overlapping as per photo.
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 35 to 40 more minutes or until starting to turn golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.