Gratin with Courgette, Puy Lentils and Tomatoes

Some of the home-grown participants...

I actually happened upon this while looking for things to do with the rather handsome rhubarb chard that had managed to survive the seasonal slug onslaught. The original recipe (which can be found here ^[1]) called for a kilo of chard, which was beyond my humble yield. I did, on the other hand, have rather a lot of courgette…. not to mention onions, which also snuck in.

The Veg:

600g courgette
250g swiss or rhubarb chard
400g fresh tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic

The Other Gratin Innards:

100g puy lentils
150ml white wine
Sprig of fresh thyme, leaves picked

The Topping:

55g hard cheese (parmesan, pecorino, …)
55g fresh breadcrumbs

The Steps:

Preheat oven to 180C.
Slice the tomatoes thickly, place in an ovenproof dish, drizzle with some olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for about 15 minutes.
Cook the puy lentils in boiling water for 15-20 minutes until tender but with a little bit of bite, then cool under cold running water and drain.
Separate the chard stalks and leaves. Cook the leaves in boiling water for about 5 minutes, then rinse in cold water, drain and chop. Season and mix with the cooked lentils.
Slice the courgette into about .5cm rounds. Slice the chard stalks into pieces about 1cm thick.
Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the finely chopped garlic, thyme, chard stalks and courgette. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes, then add the wine, cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the veg are soft. Season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, slice the onion and add to an ovenproof dish (measuring about 20x24cm) along with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Put into the oven for about 10 minutes, so that the onions are not brown and cripsy and still have some bite.
Remove the dish from the oven and add the roasted tomatoes, then the lentil mixture, followed by the courgette mixture. Scatter with the grated cheese and breadcrumbs and return to the oven for about 10 minutes.