I truly hope you all have seen the movie. I also hope you all remember Linguini’s very important question. Why is it called Ratatouille? It sounds like rat and patootie! Who wants to eat that?! Let me tell you something: ratpatootie is very good.
I decided I needed to make ratatouille after having brunch at Nice Matin. I ordered the Poached Eggs Provencal. What this delectable dish entailed was a carefully poached egg atop a pile of thick ratatouille, all sitting in a puff pastry box. The whole dish was topped with a tomato cream sauce. Is your mouth watering yet? This was my first experience of ratatouille. It wasn’t chunky tomato sauce, or salsa, or sauteed veggies. Everything was really soft. All the flavors melded together in a very unique way. I HAD to make it!
I checked out Tyler’s Ultimate Ratatouille and then proceeded to cook.
Ratatouille aka. ratpatootie
2 small japanese eggplants, slice
2 zucchini, halved and sliced
2 summer squash, halved and sliced
3 shallots, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can stewed tomatoes
splash of balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup fresh parsley
leaves from 4 fresh thyme sprigs
olive oil for sauteing
I would start by getting everything chopped, diced, minced and placed into separate bowls. Saute the eggplant first in a pan over medium heat with some olive. Let them cook down and season them. Place them in a bowl and do the same for the summer squash and zucchini. Once all of those have been sauted, it’s time to move on to the shallots. In a large saucepan, saute the shallots in some butter or olive oil until they’re translucent (8 mins). Add the garlic. Then add in the tomatoes and fresh herbs. Let this mixture come together than add in the eggplant, zucchini and summer squash. Season with salt and pepper.
Let the whole mixture cook for about 25 minutes. Everything will get really pulpy and soft. If you want to here, you can add a tiny bit of cream. Let the mixture cool down a little bit and serve with some shaved parmesan cheese.
After I had my first helping of ratatouille, I did my usual….how would this be if I baked it? So I put some in my le Creuset oven proof bowl, topped it with some cheese and breadcrumbs and let things bake away. When the top was golden brown, I took it out of the oven. It was great. I mean what could be bad about fresh and amazing vegetables, cheese and breadcrumbs?!
Sorry, I know that picture is a little messy but I wanted you to see how the finished baked product turned out. Overall the ratatouille was a huge success. I totally understand why that mean old food critic was instantaneously transformed into a happy person when he touched the ratatouille to his lips. It really is a belly warming meal. And it isn’t too unhealthy either. If you saute everything with olive oil, then you’re really just eating some really healthy veggies. This would be great served with toast, on top of pasta, in a big puff pastry: the opportunities are endless. Whitney and I even put some on top of a biscuit. Is that gross?
Bon eating,
Ariel
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