Tian Provençal with Orzo (Vegetable Pasta Casserole)

Tian Provençal is a vegetable gratin with layered sliced zucchini, squash, and tomato baked in oven on bed of sauce until vegetables are cooked and flavors meld, a bit like a ratatouille. Today's recipe features Tian as one-pot vegetable and pasta casserole. I cooked vegetable gratin (Tian Provençal) on top of flavorful Orzo Pasta for an easy weeknight one-pot vegetable pasta dinner. 

If you like Tian style vegetable casserole, I'm sure you will enjoy my Ratatouille Recipe from movie Ratatouille.

TIAN

A tian is an ceramic/earthenware of Provence. It is used both for cooking and serving. This is how this dish got it's name. Tian  Provençal (recette tian) is an Italian Provencal vegetable casserole with layered vegetables baked in oven on bed of tomato sauce. Sometimes with soft cheese such as goat cheese.

My idea of baking Tian over bed of orzo pasta is inspired from my Ratatouille recipe and an orzo pasta bake recipe from America Test Kitchen's website. Loved the idea to combine two of my favorites to make one hearty weeknight meal.

This recipe is less labor intensive than Ratatouille. I used thick slices of zucchini, yellow squash, tomato and red onion. These can be sliced with knife and don't need a slicer.

WHAT IS IN TIAN ORZO PASTA BAKE?

The ingredients used for Tian Provençal are similar to the basic ingredients in Ratatouille. Sliced zucchini, eggplant, and tomato. I, however, replaced eggplant with yellow squash. And layered thin sliced red onion for flavor and color. 

I replaced the base of tomato sauce with layer of seasoned Orzo Pasta. The best part is, pasta cooks with vegetables. This makes this vegetable pasta casserole perfect one-pot dinner for weeknights.

HOW TO BAKE ORZO PASTA?

This is one special thing about this casserole. It has a layer of orzo pasta baked while Tian bakes. I season pasta with herb, garlic, and bake with mixture of heavy cream and chicken stock. This yields creamy orzo pasta without boiling pots of water. everything cooks snuggled together in one casserole, adding flavor to each other.

Note: Even though this is a vegetable recipe. I do use chicken stock to make orzo pasta more flavorful.

MAKE IT YOUR OWN VEGETABLE CASSEROLE

This recipe can be easily adapted to suit your family's preference. Here are a few suggestions to make it your won:

1. Use Different Veggies: I used  zucchini, yellow squash, tomato and red onion. You can also use thin sliced eggplant, par-boiled red potato or yellow beets.
2. Chicken and Orzo: Add diced cooked chicken for a serving of protein.
3. Add Tomato Sauce or Pesto: Often, I layer a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce or basil pesto at the bottom of casserole before topping with uncooked orzo pasta. This makes orzo even more delicious. I highly recommend it. For this recipe's pictures I did not add sauce because sauce makes orzo yellow or green colored. Only for fancy pictures! ;-)
4. Skip or Add More Cheese: I love the hint of parmesan and mozzarella on top of veggies. This adds lots of flavor to cooked zucchini and tomato. You will love it. That said, you can skip cheese and only use salt, pepper. Or add more cheese if in mood for a more comforting dinner.

Friends, if you like vegetarian pasta for your family dinner? This one-pot recipe is a real winner. Try it today. I'm certain you have most ingredients in your pantry. Even if you don't have all the veggies. Don't worry. Make it your own Tian Provençal Pasta Bake with changes suggested above.

Wish you happy long weekend!

-Savita