I certainly enjoy an easy and fast dish to bring the family together during the hectic week, but I really enjoy cooking on the rare Sunday when I have little scheduled. Recently, just such a day popped up for me, so I decided to make something that was meant to slow my day down, to force me to relax a bit while a pot of something delectable cooked over the stove. Ratatouille.
So What’s In it?
Think: a stew-ish meal of late summer vegetables cooked with herbs to perfection. The only “drawback” is that it takes a while to make because it requires chopping up lots of veggies, to be added in only after they are sautéed or roasted, and then combined in a tomato-y base that takes a couple of hours to perfect, thus filling your house with amazing aromas while you do something really time consuming, like say, reading on the sofa and and enjoying a glass of wine while your husband is watching a rugby game. Say no more…I’m in.
Basic Ingredients
- Eggplant
- Bell pepper
- Tomatoes
- Zucchini
- Onion
- Garlic
If you want to try this dish, get started by cubing and salting the eggplant. This removes some of the extra water so that when it’s cooked with the other veggies, it won’t result in a mushy, soupy mess. Set it over a strainer to drain, and then start the next step.
Using some paper towels, pat the eggplant dry, removing the moisture that the salt extruded. Place in a baking dish, drizzled with a little olive oil, and roast for about 20 minutes.
Like the eggplant, prepare the zucchini so that it does not have that much moisture. Roast it and then set it aside.
Cut up the rest of the veggies. There’re a lot: zucchini, bell peppers, onion, garlic.
Then, saute the onion, garlic, bay leaf, and herb de Provence and set aside in a separate dish. Do the same for the bell pepper.
While it roasts, start in on the tomatoes by placing them in a small dish, and breaking them apart with a masher.
Return back to Dutch oven and start adding in all the ingredients together, except for the zucchini. You’re going to add the eggplant into the pot when finished, and then roast the zucchini, with a little bit of olive oil drizzled over the top, just like you did with the eggplant. When finished, add to the Dutch oven.
Mix all of the ingredients together, adding a bit of salt and pepper. Add a bit of sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.
Cook for about an hour, then add in the chopped basil and flat-leafed parsley. Cook for about 30 minutes more, but the longer the better.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve this dish over some roasted potatoes to soak up the extra juice.
- Meat eaters can enjoy this with a little side serving of fried, smoked turkey sausage.
Ratatouille is served best on its own with a side of crusty, french bread.
This is a slow-cooked dish, best saved for lazy Sundays. The amount it makes is generous, but it won’t last long. This dish tastes even better the next day and is great for leftovers during the week.
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Ratatouille
Equipment
- 6-quart stock pot or Dutch oven
- Baking sheet
- potato masher
Ingredients
- 1 medium Japanese eggplant, cut into 2" cubes
- 2 medium zucchini, cut into 2" cubes
- 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, quartered
- 1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed seeded quartered
- 28 ounces canned whole, peeled tomatoes
- 1 large yellow onion, quartered
- 9 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon fresh Italian flat-leaf parsly, chopped
Instructions
- Heat oven to 440 degrees, Fahrenheit.
- Cube and salted eggplant. Set on strainer for about 30 minutes while cutting up other veggies and starting to cook.
- Cut all veggies into uniform, bite-sized pieces. (When in doubt about how big, remember it will all be reduced.)
- Drizzle oil in Dutch oven. Over medium heat cook onion, garlic, bay leave and herbs de Provence until onions are translucent. Remove to a separate plate.
- Repeat by sauteing the bell pepper and set aside.
- Dry eggplant with paper towels. Drizzle a bit more oil in on a baking sheet and roast the eggplant for about 20 minutes or until starting to brown.
- While eggplant is cooking, put tomatoes in a bowl, and break up with a potato masher until pulpy.
- Remove eggplant to the dish with the onions and then roast zucchini in the same manner.
- When zucchini is done, add everything into the Dutch oven, including mashed up tomatoes. Add sugar, salt, and pepper, cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 1.5 hours.
Recipe adapted from from Saveur.com.
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