I came up with this liquidation recipe at the end of a week when I was left with one sweet potato, one red pepper, one eggplant, and half an onion. But the concept would work with many types of vegetable, really – zucchini, summer squash, fennel, shallots, potatoes, even green beans or cauliflower would work.
Essentially, I used my mandoline (also known as a v-slicer) to julienne my various veggies into sticks. All these sticks went into a large bowl, to which I added a quarter cup of tomato paste and several teaspoons of spices. Namely, about a teaspoon of harissa powder, a teaspoon of salt, some cinnamon, some cumin, a little pimente d’espelette, and some dashes of Greek and Turkish seasonings for added herbiness. Drizzle some olive oil over it all, and toss with your hands until everything’s coated with the paste and spice.
I put all this in a greased baking dish and popped it in a 400 degree oven for at least half an hour. You want to let everything start to break down, but also to get brown on top. If it gets too dry, drizzle some white wine over it all, and maybe some extra oil. About 5 minutes before I thought it was perfectly done, I added grated parmesan cheese on top and let that melt and get brown.
Serve this casserole-like concoction hot, with some cold yogurt or sour cream plopped down on top. This is a spicy dish, so you want something cool and creamy to go with it.
Wow! That sounds delicious, though, for myself, I would tone down the hot spices.