In New England we are definitely transitioning from Summer foods to Autumn meals…. and as I am doing that, I’ve decided to take a look back and see what some of my favorite meals of this past summer were.

Definitely one of my favorite fresh meals was the Summer Vegetable Tarte Tatin that I made a couple of months ago. In the summer I am hard pressed to turn the oven on – I like to grill almost anything that needs to be cooked, and a lot of times I will just have a sandwich or a fresh salad for meals. I have also been known to use my crock pot many times during the summer – it does not heat the house up like turning on the oven does!

This Vegetable Tarte Tatin was one of the few times I turned on the oven this summer.

I started off with grilling eggplant, zucchini, summer squash, mushrooms and thinly cut onions on the grill pan (I worked slowly, in batches). I sprayed my spring form pan on the base and on the sides and then I gradually started layering the vegetables. This process is really hard! It is best if you can get a full layer of eggplant at the bottom of the pan – but I think I had a few gaps. I also incorporated fresh, juicy cuts of tomato in my dish – but I did not grill the tomato.

After I had layered all of my vegetables in the pan, I drizzled the top with two tablespoons of olive oil. I sprinkled bred crumbs on top along with some parmesan cheese and basil.

The vegetables then cook in the oven (it definitely got pretty hot in the kitchen while the oven was heating up and while we were cooking this dish!) but the end result is absolutely worth it… Before I placed the pan in the oven, I lined a cookie sheet with parchment paper and placed the pan on top of it. (Sometimes the juices from the vegetables will drip down and out of the pan if you don’t have the perfect seal) I cooked the Vegetable Tarte Tatin in the oven for 35 minutes at 400 degrees.
The end result was a delicious dinner that even a non-vegetarian would love to have on a summer’s night (or any time of the year). I was so pleased with this meal – it was so fresh, healthy and satisfying.

(The next day I had more of this veggie dish with scrambled eggs for additional protein – it was a great lunch!)

This dish does not have to be just a summer dish – if you can still get fresh zucchini, summer squash and tomatoes I would highly recommend giving a recipe like this a try!