Fresh Vegetable Tian - cooking recipe

Ingredients

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 medium baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small Japanese eggplant, thinly sliced on diagonal
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced on diagonal
4 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
coarse salt
fresh ground black pepper
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 head garlic
1/3 cup shredded gruyere cheese
crusty bread, sliced 1/2 inch thick and toasted,for serving (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400\u00b0; grease a 9\" x 13\" baking dish with 1 T olive oil.
Arrange the vegetables in the dish in slightly overlapping rows, alternating potato, eggplant, zucchini and tomato; season with salt and pepper; place rosemary sprigs on top and garlic in the center of the dish; drizzle everything with the remaining 3 T of oil.
To keep the dish moist and tender, swirl the dish to move the oil around every 10 minutes; bake 40-50 minutes, until vegetables are tender and garlic is soft.
Remove from oven; remove the rosemary sprigs and set the garlic aside to cool a bit; squeeze the garlic flesh into a bowl and mash; spread it on the vegetables or on the toast if you prefer; sprinkle vegetables with cheese and return to oven 2-3 minutes until cheese is just melted; serve warm.