Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a cooked vegetable dish that comes from France and features eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and bell peppers. It is a perfect end-of-summer dish that utilizes many of the often “over-produced” items from a home garden. On our Foodie trips to France, we make “homemade” garlic-sausages and serve them over a bed of ratatouille. In Spain, we make a similar dish called Samfaina which includes the same ingredients, but is cooked down for several hours and results in a mixture with more of a sauce consistency.
Ratatouille
Course: SidesCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Easy6
servings45
minutes30
minutesIngredients
2 medium eggplants, peeled and diced very small
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, very finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers
2 medium zucchini, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon each: dried oregano, thyme and ground fennel seeds
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
Directions
- Line a baking sheet with several layers of paper towel. Spread the chopped eggplant over the paper towel and sprinkle with the salt. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, place the eggplant in a colander and squeeze out the liquid.
- Roast the bell peppers over an open flame, charring the skin. Place in a plastic bag to steam for 3 minutes. Peel away the skin and cut in half to remove the seeds and membranes. Dice the bell peppers.
- Heat a large sauce pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil and add the chopped onions. Cook, stirring often, until they soften, about 8 minutes.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and the garlic and mix in. Cook for 30 seconds while stirring.
- Add the remaining olive oil, eggplant, diced-roasted bell peppers, zucchini and black pepper. Turn the heat to low, stir, cover and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes and dried herbs, cover again and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the chopped fresh bail and season with Kosher salt.
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