New Potato Gratin with Tomatoes and Olives

Made with summer’s new potatoes and garden tomatoes, this late-harvest dish is fragrant with herbs and olives. Serve warm or at room temperature, with a wedge of lemon and vegan mayonnaise.  Reprinted with permission from The New Vegetarian Cooking For Everyone* by Deborah Madison,copyright © 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House LLC.

Serves: 4 to 6  

• 2 pounds fingerling or any waxy new potato, scrubbed or peeled
• Sea salt and freshly milled pepper
• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
• ⅓ cup niçoise or kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 8 thyme sprigs, preferably lemon thyme
• ¼ lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Oil a 2-quart gratin dish. 

Slice the potatoes ⅜ inch thick, lengthwise if they’re fingerlings. Boil them in salted water for 4 minutes, then scoop them out, rinse under cold water, and set aside. 

Plunge the tomatoes into the same water for 10 seconds, then remove and rinse. Peel, halve, and seed. Coarsely chop half of one tomato; slice the rest crosswise.

Warm half the oil in a skillet over high heat and add the onions, dried thyme, fennel, and a little pepper. Sauté until the onions are lightly browned and wilted, about 8 minutes, then transfer them to the gratin dish.

Scatter the chopped tomato, olives, half the garlic, half the thyme sprigs, and half the lemon over the top. Cover with the potatoes, intersperse with the sliced tomatoes, and tuck in the remaining garlic, thyme, and lemon.

Season with salt and pepper, scatter the capers over the top, and drizzle with the remaining oil. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover and bake until the potatoes are fully tender, 20 to 30 minutes more.

• Here are more easy, tasty potato recipes.

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