Balsamic Potato & Zucchini Tian

As I'm writing this I'm teetering somewhere between hungry and tired. Which is never a good place to be. Especially, if, like me, you get kinda grumpy when you hit that stage. Leading you to want to punch the nearest person in the face/gobble up everything in sight/plot elaborate revenge plans against your sworn enemies.

Okay so "kinda grumpy" is an ever so slight understatement. It's more like a cross between a bear that has been (severely) wronged crossed with an impatient two year old. Yup, I'm afraid when I'm hungry or tired (or heavens forbid - both!), I am not the most pleasant of people to be around. Ask The(poor, longsuffering)Husband.

Luckily for me (and you), today's recipe is super low maintenance. Perfect for those grumpy-bear kinda moments. In fact, it can be made even more low maintenance by replacing the browned balsamic onions with some onion marmalade/jam and bribing your friendly grocer to pre-cut the veggies for you. In which case you just need to layer them all pretty-like on top of said onions. Pop them in the oven, pour a glass of wine and give in to your inner spoilt brat with *insert guilty pleasure activity of choice here* while the tian does it's thing in the oven.

Best part? The swirly patterns of the tian looks like you went to a lot of effort. Hey, I won't tell if you won't.

Balsamic Potato & Zucchini Tian
A Creative Pot original
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive (plus more for drizzling)
1 large onion
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (plus more for drizzling)
2 smallish red skinned potatoes, scrubbed and thickly sliced
2 large zucchini (babymarrow), sliced into thickish rounds
salt, to taste


1. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes until starting to soften. Add balsamic vinegar, lower heat and cook for a few minutes more until caramelised.
2. Spoon onion into a round oven dish, spreading evenly over the base. Layer potatoes and zucchini on top, alternating to form a circular pattern. Sprinkle with salt to taste and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. 
3. Bake at 180C for approximately 30 minutes, then drizzle with a little bit of balsamic and bake for a further 10 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through. Serve warm.