Our Vegan French Tian is one of our favorite ways to use summer produce. It’s simple to make and is sure to impress!
🇫🇷 WHAT IS A TIAN?
A tian is a round pottery dish from the Provençal region of France. It is also the name of one of the most aesthetically stunning and mouth-wateringly delicious dishes in the world.
Tian is a summer dish consisting of sliced medallions of eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, arranged over a bed of diced onions, garlic, olive oil and fresh herbs. The dish is then baked and served with crusty French baguette, or over pasta.
Seriously, when prepared in season, there are few dishes on this planet that carry the one-two punch of flavor and beauty quite like a proper tian. It is fresh. It is exquisite. It is gorgeous. It is hands-down our favorite French dish.
🐀 TIAN vs. RATATOUILLE
It is not, however, ratatouille. Don’t confuse the two. Especially not in front of a French person. They’re serious about their food, and have a history of taking punishments a bit too far. Ahem…You remember what they did to Marie Antoinette when she offered them cake?
In case you were wondering: Yes, we were inspired to make this dish for the first time after watching Disney’s “Ratatouille.” However, Remy the Rat led us all astray! The dish depicted in the movie is technically a Tian Provençal—not a ratatouille. While both use the same ingredients, the presentation and method of cooking are very different. In a tian, all of the ingredients are layered and baked together. Ratatouille is more of a stew, in which the ingredients are cooked separately to preserve their distinct flavors.
💡RECIPE TIPS
- To get evenly sized medallions of veggies, we suggest using a mandolin slicer. Just watch those fingers!
- We found that using Roma tomatoes and Japanese eggplants works best, because they are about the same width as the zucchini and yellow squash. European eggplants are big boys. If you’re using them, you may need to quarter each medallion for them to fit uniformly with the other vegetables.
- Before going vegan, we loved adding a (non-traditional) dollop of mascarpone cheese, to serve. We’ve found Tofutti Brands sour cream to be a tasty vegan stand-in for the mascarpone.
DID YOU MAKE OUR VEGAN FRENCH TIAN?
Did you make this recipe? We’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. Share your dish with us on Instagram and tag us @plantbased.passport. We would love to seeing your delicious creations! Still hungry? Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Pinterest for more global vegan recipes and travel tips!🍴✈️
💕 Other European Recipes You’ll Love
👩🏽🍳 RECIPE
VEGAN FRENCH TIAN
Ingredients
- 1 6-oz can of tomato paste
- ½ medium onion chopped finely
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tablespoon fresh thyme divided
- ¼ cup olive oil divided
- ¾ cup water
- 1 Asian eggplant very thinly sliced
- 1 zucchini very thinly sliced
- 1 yellow summer squash very thinly sliced
- 3 Roma tomatoes very thinly sliced
- Kosher salt to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
To serve:
- Vegan sour cream (we use the Tofutti brand)
- Sliced baguette
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Spread tomato paste into the bottom of a baking dish (We like to use a round dish that’s 12 inches in diameter). Sprinkle with onion, garlic and ¼ tablespoon thyme. Stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil and water until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
- Arrange alternating slices of eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper, and orange bell pepper, starting at the outer edge of the dish and working concentrically towards the center. Overlap the slices a little to display the colors. Drizzle the vegetables with 3 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with remaining ¼ tablespoon thyme and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Cover with foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven until vegetables are roasted and tender, about 45 minutes. Serve with dollops of vegan sour cream and sliced baguette.
Stunning to look at and so yummy. Great to eat with toasted baguette.
Clean, simple flavors. Healthy too.