Ratatouille
Ratatouille: Not Just a Chef
Ratatouille, in addition to being a talented rodent chef, is also a traditional French dish. We ate a ton of it this summer, to my husband’s great displeasure. Ratatouille was the vegetable rich staple of his childhood and not a favorite. Until this recipe.
Ratatouille Cold? Maybe Hot is Better
As I mentioned in my zucchini soup post, my husband’s aunt is a great cook. She raised three kids and now feeds grandkids of all shapes and sizes. Her recipes are top shelf! She also serves her ratatouille cold – at least in the hot summer months. It is like a sort of very chunky gazpacho. I don’t love cold food, even when I am sweating. I knew ratatouille had some great potential, so I set out to modify our aunt’s recipe.
A Mix of Fresh Produce Makes Ratatouille Great
The basics of ratatouille are eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes. These vegetables are in abundance as summer comes to an end, so the recipe is a great way to use up what you have in the garden. My garden is a collection of useless, and very overgrown, flowers but my supermarket has a whole section devoted to local farm produce.
Prepare Your Veggies in Advance
Preparing your vegetables in advance is absolutely necessary. Peel the eggplant and the zucchini. I cut the eggplant into cubes and sliced the zucchini, cutting the slices in half. The tomatoes are romas and I cut them into cubes. In addition, I added a sliced medium onion, a chopped yellow bell pepper, and three cloves of garlic. All of these need to be processed before the cooking begins.To be fair, the easiest way to prepare ratatouille does involve a lot of bowls. I put the eggplant in one, the zucchini in another, the tomatoes in a third, and the rest of the veggies in one final bowl.
Ratatouille = Vegan/Vegetarian
I began by cooking the eggplant in olive oil until soft and then transferred it to its original bowl. The zucchini gets cooked next and then removed. The onion, pepper, and garlic were cooked until soft and then the tomatoes were added on top. Each step gets a nice sprinkle of salt. Once the tomatoes were soft, I returned the rest of the vegetables to the pot, stirred, and topped with thyme. Fresh time would probably be amazing, but I only had dry and it was still good.
Happy Summer Eating!
The verdict? My husband loved it! The guests we had over for dinner also loved it. Everyone took more and no one stirred it around on his/her plate the way you do with something you hate.
Ratatouille is a fairly easy summer dish and is a great way to eat lots of veggies without it feeling like a punishment. I highly recommend giving the recipe a try before the summer is over!
If you enjoy this recipe, please consider donating to my Ko-fi link: http://ko-fi.com/goodenoughkitchen
Ratatouille
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil divided
- 1 medium eggplant
- 2 zucchini
- 1 medium onion
- 1 bell pepper any color
- 3 cloves garlic
- 6 Roma tomatoes
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp basil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Prepare all the veggies before you start cooking. Peel the eggplant and cut it into cubes. Peel the zucchini, slice it, and cut the slices in half. Slice the onion and chop the pepper. Peel the garlic, crush it, and dice it. Chop the tomatoes.
- Place the eggplant in one bowl, the zucchini in another, the tomatoes in another, and the garlic, onion, and pepper in a final bowl.
- Heat about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a deep frying pan over medium high heat.
- Add the eggplant to the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Let cook until soft, stirring occasionally. This takes about 10 minutes. You may need to add a bit more olive oil and/or lower the heat. You are not trying to brown the veggies, just make them soft.
- When the eggplant is cooked, remove it back to its bowl.
- Add more about 2 more tbsp of olive oil to the pan and put in the zucchini. Salt the zucchini lightly.
- Again, cook the zucchini, stirring occasionally, until it is soft. This also takes about 10 minutes. You may also need a bit more oil.
- Removed the cooked zucchini and put it back in its bowl.
- Add a bit more olive oil and the onions, garlic, and pepper. Stir occasionally until soft and the onion is translucent. Do not let this brown. It will take about 8 minutes.
- When the onion mixture is cooked, add the tomatoes on top. Let cook until the tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.
- When the tomatoes are cooked, returned the eggplant and zucchini to the pan.
- Sprinkle the veggies with one teaspoon of thyme (I used a bit more) and one teaspoon of basil. Mix. Taste and add salt if necessary. Remember to always add your salt a little at a time. You don't want to overdo it.
- Cook the mixture on low heat until heated through.
- Remove the ratatouille with a slotted spoon and serve.
