Vegetable Casserole Provencal

Vegetable Casserole Provencal
10-12 Servings, 8 P+/serving
(Serving Size: 2 cups)

(Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees)

1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (at least!)
1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh parsley, washed and de-stemmed; curly tops only (I spin it dry in a salad spinner)
1 bay leaf
1/2 to 1-1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/2 to 1-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

(Puree all of above in a food processor or blender)

5 or 6 small red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered (or russets, cut into 1/8ths)
1 small cauliflower, broken into flowerets (I bought the cauliflower package at Trader Joe's)
1 cup of carrots, cut into small bite size pieces
2 peppers, seeded (red, yellow, or green) cut into bite-size pieces (I like red or orange)
2 zucchini (yellow or green), unpeeled, cut in 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick slices
1 eggplant, unpeeled and cubed
1/2 acorn squash, peeled and cubed (but I've used pre-cut butternut squash in the package from Trader Joe's)
1 large onion, cut in 1/8ths
1 or 1-1/2 cups of mushrooms, quartered (I use baby Bellas)
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and sliced
1/2 - 1 cup or more frozen peas
1 or so handful of grapes
Handful of pitted Kalamata olives in oil (about 1/2 the jar from TJ's)
1/2 to 1-1/2 tsp. sea salt (optional)

(This recipe is very forgiving in terms of quantities of each veggie. You can also substitute any vegetables except don't use spinach or beets -- I recently added the halved mushrooms)

LAYERING AND COOKING: Puree oil, garlic, parsley, bay leaves, marjoram, and red pepper flakes. Prepare all vegetables. Layer a very LARGE casserole with heaviest or slowest cooking vegetables on the bottom (I layer, from the bottom, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, then the squashes) ending up with the ONION ON TOP which I separate into pieces as I lay it around the top. Sprinkle/pour the pureed olive oil mixture in between layers and on top. DO NOT add the tomatoes, grapes, peas, or olives until you bake the layered, oiled vegetables COVERED for at least one hour at 350 degrees. THEN ADD tomatoes, grapes, peas, and olives and sea salt (optional), cover and bake for 15 more minutes. It's OK if it cooks a little longer or sits in a cast iron casserole after you take it out of the oven. (The carrots take the longest to cook, so try them before serving--stir everything up).

Note: Serve with sourdough bread, extra olive oil, salt, and pepper on the side (add those extra PP values!)...it's more like a veggie stew. Experiment and ENJOY!

Brought by Mari