As the summer drew to a close with the warm days we had in November, it seemed appropriate to have one more of the wonderful baked vegetable dishes we enjoy with nature’s bounty. This one is called “Tourlou”, and it could be Greek or Turkish in origin. Its principal ingredients are eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes — like so many of the ratatouille-style dishes of the Mediterranean. A large cazuela or tian is the perfect vessel to use, and we had a good one.

You can see that I threw in some sautéed mushrooms too. You can almost smell the warmth of the thinly-sliced onions, swimming in the thick tomato sauce, nicely-browned in the hot oven.

Of course, this calls for a rich, red wine. It was a superb match with a recently-discovered gem from the Rhône valley, a 2019 Terres de Mandrin Syrah by Jeanne Gaillard. Magnifique!

The leftovers the next day went very well with Kent Callaghan’s Arizona wine, a 2015 blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, Petit Verdot, and Tannat (all good friends of mine).