Little Tomato-Pesto Napoleons

These intensely flavored layers of vegetables stack up a rainbow of benefits: antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial - but certainly not "antigastro­nomadic" ("gastronoma­dic" is a word invented by the French chef Careme to describe tourists who are lovers of regional food specialties). Bake these in custard cups and think of Provence. Delicious hot, cold or in between.

8 ripe tomatoes: 4 medium red, 2 medium-large yellow, 2 medium-large green, about 3 pounds
2 medium-sized yellow onions
6 tablespoons pesto, homemade or store-bought

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.Wash tomatoes and dry thoroughly. Cut red tomatoes in half horizontally. Lightly coat 8 custard cups with nonstick vegetable spray and place tomatoes in them cut side up.Peel onions and cut each into 12 thin slices. Top each tomato with 1 onion slice. Spread 1 teaspoon of pesto over each onion slice.Cut each yellow tomato into 4 thick slices. Place a slice on top of each pesto-smeared onion slice. Top with another onion slice. Spread 1 teaspoon of pesto on top.Cut each green tomato into 4 thick slices. Place on top of onion. Top with another thin slice of onion. Spread with 1/4-teaspoon of pesto.Place custard cups on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 90 minutes, carefully pouring off liquid every 30 minutes, and pressing down on Napoleons with a spatula. Collect all juices in a small bowl.

When finished, let Napoleons cool for a few minutes. Place juices in a small nonstick skillet and cook over high heat until juices are syrupy - reduced to about 1/2 cup. Add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Turn Napoleons out onto a platter. Pour reduced juices over top and serve.

Serves 8