Ratatouille

June 11, 2011

It's June in the Lowcountry, and the veggies are going crazy! I am now getting cucumbers, squash, sweet onions, eggplant, green and yellow peppers, jalapeños, and sweet corn in my CSA box! The tomatoes are another 1-2 weeks away from being ready at Rest Park Farm.

I've gotten several grape tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes out of my own garden in the last couple of days. Back during the first week of March, I took a chance on the weather and planted my tomato seeds into the ground. At the end of March, I bought larger plants and put them in. Those are now bearing ripe fruit, and there are green tomatoes on the plants that came from seed.

All of the squash, onions, and eggplant have been going into Ratatouille lately. Ratatouille is a French peasant vegetable stew, usually made with squash, zucchini, bell pepper, eggplant, carrot, onion, garlic, and fresh herbs. The most traditional herbs are thyme, basil, marjoram and bay leaf. Ratatouille is also an Academy Award-winning Pixar movie about a rat in a Parisian kitchen.....and is just as good as it's namesake dish!

I have been making 2 big batches a week, and have tried different flavor combinations. Sometimes I add cayenne pepper flake, and other times I add roasted garlic and a light dusting of Parmesan cheese on top before letting it broil to a golden brown.

My favorite way to make Ratatouille is very simple, rustic, and downright lazy.

Oven-roasted ratatouille (makes 4-6 LARGE servings)

Ingredients:

3-4 zucchini, each about 6-8 inches long (phallic monsters, as my aunt likes to call them...heehee)

3-4 small crook-neck or "pattipan" yellow squash

1 large eggplant, rough dice

1 green bell pepper, diced

2-3 large tomatoes, diced

2 carrots, rough dice

1 medium Vidalia or other sweet onion, rough dice

2 cloves of garlic, minced

handful of fresh basil, chopped

small sprig of rosemary, chopped

Two "pinches" of dried oregano

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Two "pinches" of dried chili flake, you can omit this if you're not into spicy

1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black ground pepper, or to taste

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

-Dice your veggies into somewhat uniform size

-mince the garlic and the herbs

- place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl

- take your clean hands and mix everything together

- transfer to a large casserole dish

- bake for 30-40 minutes

DELICIOUS! Let this bake while you take a shower, brush the dog, or prepare faster cooking components of your meal.

I like ratatouille on its own for a healthy lunch, or as a side dish with grilled chicken, tempeh or sausage. YUM!!!

I have a feeling that someday I will be feeding my kids ratatouille while they watch ratatouille!