Title: Mediterranean mixed vegetable gratin
 Categories: 
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      1 lb Fresh plum tomatoes
    1/2 lb Large red bliss potatoes
      1 lg Red onion
      1 lg Red peppers
      1 lg Yellow pepper
    1/2 lb Small Italian eggplants
      1 lg Fennel bulb
    1/3 c  Olive oil
      2    Cloves garlic, finely
           Chopped
    1/4    Fresh mint leaves
      1 c  Bread crumbs
    1/4 c  Grated Parmesan cheese
           Salt
           Freshly ground black pepper
 
  Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
  
  Wash all of the vegetables, drain and dry.  Slice the tomatoes into
  rounds 1/4-inch thick.  Cut the potatoes, leaving the skin on, into
  equally sized rounds.  Peel the onion, leaving whole, cut into thin
  round slices. Cut the pepper in half, remove and discard the seeds
  and ribs, and cut into a thin julienne.  Leave the skin on the
  eggplant and cut into thin round slices. Trim the top of the fennel
  bulb and slice the fennel on a vegetable slicer into thin slices
  beginning at the base and continuing up to the top. Using a large
  ceramic vegetable gratin dish, brush the bottom of the dish with some
  of the olive oil. Lay the sliced tomatoes on the bottom of the dish
  in single layer overlapping where necessary.  Season this and each
  succeeding layer of vegetables with salt and pepper as you go to
  ensure balanced flavors.  Lay the potatoes on top of the tomatoes,
  season and continue with a layer of onion.  Combine the peppers and
  lay the peppers over the onion layer.  Next add a layer of eggplant
  and finally a layer of thinly sliced fennel remembering to carefully
  season each vegetable layer. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of olive oil over
  the top layer of vegetables and place the dish into the oven. Bake
  for 45 minutes.
  
  While the gratin is baking, combine the remaining olive oil with the
  garlic, mint, bread crumbs, cheese and season with a fresh grind of
  black pepper. After the vegetables have cooked for 45 minutes, remove
  from the oven, sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top and
  return to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the top browns to
  a golden color.
  
  Yield: 6 to 8 portions