Vegetarian Timbale (timballino vegetariano)

I have been a fan of Italian food for a very long time and I enjoy learning why certain foods were used in one region of Italy and not in another. Vegetables were often used to replace meat when it was scarce or too expensive (or both). After eating this dish you’ll forget all about eating meat! This recipe is adapted from Antonio Carluccio‘s book, ‘My Favorite Italian Recipes’. He’s one of my favorite Italian chefs and I enjoy watching his food programs.

Serves 4
120g broccoli florets
90g French beans, cut into 3 inch pieces
2 x 200g zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
500g eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
4 tablespoons seasoned plain flour
4 eggs, beaten
olive oil for shallow frying
200g Fontina or Gruyere cheese, cut into 1/2 inch dice
100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Tomato Sauce
1 medium onion, finely chopped
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
400g can chopped tomatoes
6 basil leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200c (400f). To make the tomato sauce, fry the onion gently in the oil until soft without colouring. Add tomatoes and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Stir in the basil and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. Blanch broccoli and beans in boiling salted water. Drain and refresh in cold water.

Dust zucchini and eggplant with the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess, dip into beaten egg and shallow fry in 1 inch of very hot oil until golden brown on both sides. Drain on kitchen paper. In an oven proof dish put 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce, then layers of eggplant, Fontina or Gruyere cheese, tomato sauce, Parmesan, French beans, zucchini, broccoli, tomato sauce, Parmesan and then repeat the layers, ending with a layer of tomato sauce and Paramesan. Bake 30 minutes.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: This dish is like a vegetarian lasagna. It’s one of those recipes you can make the day before and it still tastes great the next day. I used Gruyere cheese slices which helped to form the layers of vegetables.