Ratatouille

No, not the movie. The dish.

Oh. So. Good.

This dish is traditionally layered and baked/roasted in the oven. But there was no way I was turning the oven on today. In fact, my husband and I are seriously strategizing to keep from turning it on for the rest of the summer. I cooked mine on the stove top. It also traditionally has onions in it. When I went into my pantry, my organic onions I had hanging in there were moldy. :( Hence, no onions.

Here's what I did:

Ratatouille
2 Medium Zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced in 1/2 " chunks
1 Japanese Eggplant, same as above
1/2 Yellow Pepper, large julienne and then cut in thirds
4 oz. Mushrooms, sliced
5 Tomatoes, cored, seeded and chunked
1 Onion, chunked
3 Cloves Garlic, smashed and minced
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Pepper
Herbs
Mozzarella or Parmesan

I put all the vegetables and garlic into my cobalt blue enamel cast iron pot (love this because I can cook and serve in it and it looks good) on the stove top. Drizzled olive oil over all. Don't be shy about the olive oil. It's important! Sprinkled with sea salt, pepper and Bragg's Sprinkles (I would have used fresh parsley in this, if I'd had some. That's about the only fresh herb I don't have right now, though.) and cooked on medium heat until the pot got nice a hot. Then I closed it and let it cook, stirring around occasionally and adding herbs as necessary.

When the vegies were nice and soft and tested (uh hum, I mean tasted!), I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella over it all and served it with sourdough bread spread with hummus and we had grilled steaks with that, too. Yum!

Next time, I would like to use Parmesan instead of mozzarella and I want to use the onions it's supposed to have in it. It had wonderful flavor and was hearty enough to be a main dish with the bread and hummus. This makes enough for a side dish for a family of 7.  I would increase the amount of vegetables if you are making this as a main dish.

The French really have something there. Hope you try it!


FYI: This recipe is crossposted on my other blogs today.