Courgette, tarragon, tomato and reduced fat cheese gratin
This is a great vegetarian dish and can be put together several hours in advance.
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 40 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
3 courgettes, about 450g, cut into 5mm slices
ground black pepper
300g ripe plum tomatoes cut into 5mm slices
3 stems tarragon, leaves stripped and roughly chopped
50g breadcrumbs
110g reduced-fat hard cheese, Cheddar style, finely grated
Method:
This gratin dish can be made up to the end of step 4 several hours ahead of cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) mark 6. Warm 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onion and garlic and 2 tbsp water, and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Remove the onions to an ovenproof dish or gratin dish and spread them evenly over the base. Season with pepper.
- Warm the remaining oil in the same pan, raise the heat to medium high and add the courgette. Cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to colour, about 5 minutes. Tip the cooked courgettes out of the pan so they cover the onions and garlic in the dish.
- Scatter the courgettes with the tarragon leaves then tuck in the tomato slices randomly between the courgettes. Mix together the breadcrumbs and grated reduced-fat hard cheese and sprinkle over the vegetables.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 10 minutes to brown the top. Serve immediately.