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    Ratatouille Recipe

    November 1, 2008 // 1 Comment »

    Makes 2 large servings, or three if you’re less of a miss piggy than I:

    Ingredients

    • 1 eggplant
    • 2 zucchini
    • 3 small onions
    • 6 nice garden grown tomatoes. Hydroponic clones won’t do for this.
    • 8 cloves of garlic
    • Beaucoups olive oil

    Procedure

    1. Dice the eggplant and zucchini into a 1/2 ” dice.
    2. Soak both the eggplant and zucchini in bowls of abundant salted water for at least an hour, separately. Overnight is optimal.
    3. Rinse them, and spread them on two different trays to dry.
    4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
    5. Sautee the eggplant in 2 T o.oil, or more, if necessary, on high heat until well caramelized. Remove to a glass Pyrex dish, or a rectangular cake pan in a pinch.
    6. Repeat with zucchini.
    7. Dice onion to same size, and sauté until brown in 2 T o. oil (Should be past golden but not charred).
    8. Halve the tomatoes. Over the sink, squeeze them to expel the seeds. Don’t go crazy, though. About 1/3 of the moisture should still remain in the tomatoes. These will provide delicious moisture for the whole dish.
    9. Roughly chop the garlic cloves.
    10. Add all ingredients to the baking dish, salt heavily (more than you think: the salt will draw out moisture from the vegetables to create a delicious juice. Also, it’s a hefty mass of ingredients, so it really needs the seasoning.
    11. Mix and fold with a spatula to evenly distribute ingredients.
    12. Pop into oven uncovered for a total of 1.5 hours, mixing it around every 30 minutes or so to avoid over-caramelization.

     

    The ratatouille is finished when it is a lovely, caramelized sticky, ooey-gooey mess. The vegetables should seem to have dissolved into one another, thoroughly melded but still maintaining the integrity of their character (this is why you sauté them each separately). Ratatouille, by the way, gets better with age. Have some, refrigerate the rest for later, and by all means, multiply the recipe. It’s not an exact science, so mix and match as suits your fancy!!!

    Posted in French Cuisine, The Recipes, Uncategorized