Vegetarian Napoleon Recipes

VEGETABLE NAPOLEON WITH GRILLED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOM AND TOMATO BASIL BISQUE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add onion, celery, and bell pepper and saute until they begin to soften. While they are cooking, cut fresh tomatoes in half, squeeze out seeds. Stir the fresh tomatoes into the skillet along with tomato paste and diced canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and simmer partially covered to integrate flavors, about 5 minutes. Add stock and cook for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Season portobello mushrooms with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Place on baking sheet in oven for 10 minutes.
• Remove pan of tomato mixture from heat, stir in cream and season with salt and pepper, to taste. While the mushrooms are in the oven, puree sauce in batches in food processor. Remove mushrooms from oven and let cool.
• To assemble napoleon, place a portobello on serving plate. Top with 1 slice of cheese followed by a slice of tomato, then another slice of cheese, another tomato slice and the second portobello on the top layer. Ladle warm sauce over the vegetable napoleon and finish with a basil sprig, for garnish.

NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Make puff pastry strips: Lightly flour a clean work surface. Using a rolling pin, gently roll out dough into a 16-by-18-inch rectangle about 1/8 inch thick, being careful not to press too hard around the edges. Using a pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut rectangle crosswise into thirds, with each strip 6 by 16 inches. Transfer to a baking sheet; dock, or pierce, the dough all over with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap; place in refrigerator 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Transfer to oven; bake until strips are puffed and golden all over, about 14 minutes. Set a baking sheet directly on pastry strips, and continue baking until pastry is cooked through and well browned, about 6 minutes. Remove top baking sheet; bake 4 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, trim each to 4 1/4 by 12 inches.
• Make the glaze: In a small saucepan, bring heavy cream just to a boil. Place dark chocolate in a bowl, and pour hot cream over chocolate; whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is combined. Whisk in corn syrup. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl.
• Place white chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until chocolate is melted, and remove from heat. Let cool.
• Using an offset spatula, spread dark chocolate glaze over one side of the flattest puff pastry strip, making sure to coat entire surface. Place white chocolate in a piping cone; pipe thin lines 3/4 inch apart across width of chocolate-coated strip. To create the distinctive flourish, gently drag the tip of a paring knife or a skewer lengthwise through both coatings, in lines perpendicular to the white chocolate lines. Begin at one of the short ends, and make each line 3/4 inch apart. Alternate the direction each time.
• Place one of the unglazed puff pastry strips on a serving tray. Spread half the pastry cream over the top, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Top with remaining unglazed pastry strip; press down gently, and repeat with remaining pastry cream. Top with glazed pastry strip. Transfer to refrigerator, and chill 30 minutes uncovered. Using a long serrated knife, cut into six pieces, and serve.

EGGPLANT NAPOLEON

Steps:

• Whisk eggs together in a deep container. Pour bread crumbs in another deep container.
• Dip each slice of eggplant into the eggs, covering both sides, and press into the bread crumbs until evenly coated.
• Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Arrange a layer of eggplant slices in the skillet; cook until crispy, 2 to 4 minutes. Spray tops with cooking spray and flip; continue cooking until second side is browned and eggplant is tender, 2 to 4 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining slices.
• Preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
• Arrange a layer of eggplant slices in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Top each slice with a basil leaf, 1 tomato slice, and 1 slice of mozzarella cheese. Place another eggplant slice on top. Cover with remaining tomato and mozzarella cheese slices.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is softened, but not melted, about 5 minutes.

ROASTED VEGETABLE NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. and brush 2 baking sheets with some of the olive oil.
• Arrange as many vegetables as possible in one layer on sheets. Brush vegetables with some remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables in middle and lower thirds of oven, switching positions of sheets in oven half way through roasting, until just tender and lightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Transfer vegetables as roasted to a tray, arranging them in one layer. Roast remaining vegetables in same manner. Vegetables may be roasted 1 day ahead, cooled completely, and chilled, layered between sheets of plastic wrap on trays and covered. Bring vegetables to room temperature before proceeding.
• In a small bowl stir together ricotta, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Put 1 eggplant slice on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Spread 1 tablespoon of ricotta mixture over eggplant. Cover ricotta mixture with 2 potato slices and layer with 2 zucchini slices, 1 onion slice, 1 mozzarella slice, 2 to 3 tomato slices, 2 zucchini slices, and 1 onion slice. Spread 1 tablespoon ricotta mixture over onion and top with 1 eggplant slice. Make 5 more napoleons using remaining vegetables, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella in same manner.
• Insert a metal or wooden skewer through center of each napoleon to make a hole from top to bottom. Trim rosemary sprigs to 1-inch taller than napoleons and remove bottom leaves from each sprig, leaving about 1-inch of leaves around top. Insert 1 sprig into each napoleon and bake in middle of oven 5 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted and vegetables are heated through.

VEGETARIAN NAPOLEON

Steps:

• The pastry: mix 1 1/4 c.pastry flour with 2T veg. Oil and 1/2 c. chilled water. Mix and form a dough,chill. Mix together 1 3/4 Sticks COLD Soy Margarine and 1/4 c. flour Roll out pastry mixture into a rectagle and place the margarine/flour mixture as a square in the middle. Fold Flour mixture over margarine mixture and roll out to a rectagle. Fold over like an envelope and roll out. Repeat this two more times. Chill 1 hour. Roll out as thin as possible on a baking sheet and bake in 425 oven till puffed and lightly browned about 10-20 minutes. Cool. Cut into 3 strips lengthwise about 3" wide. While pastry is baking; In a food processor mix tofu, agar and applejuice let sit for 30 min, stirring occasionally. Chill.Ocassionally whip with a whisk to get a "whipped cream" texture. Mix Soy Cream Cheese with sweetner and chill. Assemble: put thin coating of rasperry jam on two of the strips of baked pastry, coat that with a layer of whipped Tofu mixture, layer with another pastry, raspberry and tofu, put final pastry layer on top and frost with soy cream cheese. Melt chocolate and put in pastry bag fitted with fine tube. Put chocolate stripes across and with a knife or toothpick pull across entire length of top of pastry to form decorative top. Cut into 2-3" inch servings

GRILLED VEGETABLE AND GOAT CHEESE NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Brush tomatoes with 2 teaspoons oil; sprinkle with oregano, basil and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Transfer to an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until tender., Brush zucchini and yellow squash with 2 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place vegetables in a grill wok or basket. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 8-12 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally., Remove and discard stems and gills from mushrooms. Brush mushrooms and eggplant with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with remaining salt. Grill mushrooms, covered, over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until tender. Grill eggplant, covered, over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until tender., In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon garlic and remaining pepper., Place mushrooms on a greased baking sheet; spread each with 2 teaspoons cheese mixture. Layer with zucchini, squash, 2 teaspoons cheese mixture, eggplant and remaining cheese mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese and tomato. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted., In a large skillet, saute remaining garlic in remaining oil for 1 minute. Add spinach; cook for 4-5 minutes or until wilted. Divide among four plates; top each with a mushroom stack. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

VEGETABLE NAPOLEON OR REMY'S RATATOUILLE IN ROASTED PEPPER SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare the first 4 peppers by first cutting off the top and bottom and discarding inedible portions. Then cut down the sides so they form solid squares. You can usually manage to get about 3 pieces from each pepper that are 2 inches square each. Throw all pieces, including excess edible portions into a baking pan. Gut the two peppers for the sauce and cut into manageable pieces. Place them in pan as well.
• To prepare other vegetables, cut off top and bottoms, discarding inedible portions. Slice eggplant, zucchini, onions and squash into circular pieces. Eggplant should be approx 1/4 inch thick, onion, zucchini and squash can be any thickness desired under 1/8 inch. Place all edible pieces in baking pan.
• Coat all vegetables in olive oil.
• Roast in oven (500 degrees) for up to 30 minutes until edges of pepper are beginning to blacken and other vegetable centers become soft enough to poke with a fork.
• Grill 6 slices of eggplant on skillet and lay out individually on a cooking-sprayed cookie sheet.
• Then grill 12 slices of bell peppers. Place one on each stack of vegetables. The other 6 will be another layer after the next step.
• Next, grill zucchini slices and places enough on each pepper slice to cover fully. Throw excess into blender or food processor.
• Now stack other grilled bell peppers on top of stacks. ALL other pepper not yet used, including those specifically made for the sauce should be thrown in the blender.
• Grill squash and place enough slices on each stack to cover peppers fully. Throw excess into blender.
• Place onion slices on top of stack.
• Top each stack with a generous helping of mozzarella cheese (or one slice).
• Place cookie sheet in oven (350 degrees) for approx 15 minutes or until all cheese is completely melted.
• While the pieces are in the oven puree the excess vegetables and put in a large saucepan. Add the juice in the bottom of the pan from roasting the vegetables as well as the whipping cream and veggie broth.
• Season sauce as desired. I personally added parsley and pepper flakes for a sweet and spicy combination.
• Heat on medium-high until throughly mixed into a creamy sauce.
• To serve, place one napoleon on a plate and pour pepper sauce on top until well covered.