Roasted Vegetable Napoleon with Caramelized Onions

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This idea came from the end of Ratatouille , of all places - I love roasted vegetables, and I just loved the elegance of the final dish (which is actually called Confit Bayaldi, and is a new take on the traditional ratatouille). This one uses different veggies than the traditional recipe and a completely different sauce on the bottom - but it is delightful. Spicy with a hint of sweetness, and a great tangyness.

One of the really important things with this dish is to slice the veggies VERY THINLY - preferably with a mandolin. Also, there’s a little bit of butter in this, but it’s just as good with olive oil, so it’s REALLY easy to make vegan.

To make it: 

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1-1/2 inch thick, 5-6 inches long), sliced
  • 1 small eggplant, sliced (this might not slice on the mandolin, so just make really thin slices - about 1/16 in.)
  • 1 largish summer squash, sliced
  • 3 beets, sliced
  • 1 large white onion, sliced
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1-2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped - plus extra for garnish
  • 2-3 tbsp dijon mustard
  • quick shot of Worcestire sauce
  • 1 cup muscat (a dessert wine - you can also use a cup of white wine with a tablespoon of honey - or cut the honey if you don’t want the extra sweetness)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F. Heat butter and oil in a largish sauté pan and add onions, stirring to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook onions on low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes just until they start to caramelize (note: if you’re using mostly olive oil, the onions don’t seem to get as brown as they do with butter, so just wait until they start getting a bit brown). Add 1/2 cup of muscat and continue simmering until muscat has reduced by half. Add dijon, a shot of Worcestire, and chopped thyme and cook for another minute or so until everything’s just heated through. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

Oil a 13 by 9 Pyrex pan. Put onion mixture in pan and smooth out on the bottom. Then begin layering the vegetables, making a spiral around the pan from the outside and alternating the veggies as you go (I do a slice of beet, then a slice of eggplant, then a slice of sweet potato, then a slice of summer squash) until all the veggies are layered in the dish (you may end up with an abundance of one veggie on top - this is totally fine). Add salt and pepper to the top, pour the rest of the muscat over the top, and lace the top with a few sprigs of thyme. Put a piece of parchment paper over the vegetables and crumple it around the edges to secure it in the top of the pan. Bake at 400 F for an hour until veggies are tender. Serve with a nice glass of Pinot Grigio. You can also serve this over some baked puff pastry, or alongside grilled polenta.