Farm Fresh Ratatouille

Tonight’s box from Golden Earthworm contained eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and onion (among other things)…And when I saw the contents, ratatouille came to mind. If you’ve ever seen the movie Ratatouille, you know that the dish ratatouille is a rustic French vegetable stew. (If you haven’t seen the movie, I strongly suggest you do so before doing anything else.) Tonight’s dinner was served with a slice of Matthew’s whole grain bread and a simple baby arugula salad. In homage to another food movie (Julie and Julia) I merged Julia Child’s ratatouille recipe from The Art of French Cooking with Thomas Keller’s layered masterpiece that inspired the pièce de résistance in Ratatouille.

Ratatouille

• 2 small eggplants*
• 1 large zucchini*
• 1 large onion*
• 2 green peppers*
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped*
• 2/3 28oz can of chopped tomatoes (see note below)
• Herbes de provence, salt, pepper, olive oil and a high heat oil (safflower, grapeseed or sunflower)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Peel and slice eggplant into 1/2 – 1-inch rounds; slice zucchini into slices the same size. Toss both with salt and place in collander to drain for up to 30 minutes. Dry with paper towel or clean kitchen towel when ready.
2. While zucchini/eggplant is draining, slice onion and green pepper; sauté onion and green pepper with salt and pepper in olive oil for about 8-10 minutes, until soft and golden. Add garlic and tomatoes, turn the heat to low and cook for another 5 minutes.
   
3. When eggplant/zucchini are drained and dried, in batches sauté in high heat oil until golden; transfer to plate when done.
4. In a casserole dish, spread 1/2 of the tomato mixture on the bottom, then sprinkle with herbes de provence. Continue by arranging the sautéed zucchini and eggplant. Finish by topping with the rest of the tomato mixture and more herbes de provence. Cover with tin foil and cook for 10 minutes.

* From CSA box; also note that although a tomato came in this week’s box, I decided to use canned tomatoes since I only had one tomato, which would hardly impart ratatouille-worthy-tomato-flavor. I look forward to enjoying the tomato later this week after it’s had a bit more time ripening on my counter.

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