The recipe below is an interpretation of the Julia Child recipe and one of my favorite go-to french cooking sites, Marmiton.org. Typically known as a summer dish, I suggest preparing Ratatouille in the cooler end of summer days, when temperatures are not so hot, as this dish does require slaving over multiple burners as well as a little extra prep time. I am not promising a quick meal. This dish requires commitment. No skipping over steps. No combining vegetables when cooking. You will be cheating your taste buds if you combine cooking steps. Plan and take the time to cook as outlined below and you will be pleased with the results!
This dish may be served hot or room temperature, as a side dish or as a main dish. As a main dish it pairs well with grilled meats (pork or beef) or roasted chicken. If you prefer to keep it vegetarian, you may opt for simple white rice or boiled potatoes (one of my favorites as the potatoes soak up all the juices). As a side dish it may be served accompanying a small piece of meat and rice/potato. It is also great served along-side poached eggs for breakfast and next to or inside an omelette. Be sure to add a nice glass of your favorite red or rose!
***Peeling the skin (in my opinion) is optional, I’ve made it both ways. I usually make extra so that I can freeze a couple servings and have it again a couple weeks later. I’ve noticed that when I leave the skin on the eggplant and freeze, the skin becomes a little tough when reheated after freezing. So this is really up to you. If you already know you don’t like the skin, by all means remove!
Ingredients – Serves 4-6 as main dish and 6-8 as side dish (or maintain ratio of vegetables to tomatoes)
1 pound / 450 g eggplant
1 pound / 450 g zucchini
1 pound / 450 g onion
1 pound / 450 g green and/or red peppers
1.5 pounds / 650 g ripe tomatoes, peeled (direction below)
2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste (this is optional, if you want the mixture to be more tomato-y add some!)
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
*4-6 tablespoons olive oil (may need more or less)
1- 2 branches of thyme
1-2 laurel leaves (bay leaves may be used as substitute)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Gather your tools:
Set aside a large pot, this is where you will add the layers of cooked vegetables.
Couple sautee pans
Sauce pan (for the tomatoes)
Bowl for the ice bath
Slotted spoon
Sharp knife
Cutting board
Baking sheet (lined with paper towels, this is where the eggplant and zucchini drain)
Eggplant and zucchini prep. Wash slice and cube zucchini and eggplant (be sure to keep them separate). Place them on paper-towel covered baking sheet, add salt and let drain.
Peeling tomatoes. Add water to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Wash and remove stem from tomatoes, using a sharp knife score a shallow X at the bottom (opposite stem) of each tomato. Place 2-3 tomatoes at a time into the boiling water for 20-30 seconds (no more than 30), with a slotted spoon place tomatoes directly into the bowl of ice water. Once tomatoes have cooled remove from ice water bath and carefully peel skin off at the scored edges. After peeling all the tomatoes, cut into quarters and carefully scrape and discard the seeds (no need to be terribly meticulous about this, it’s ok to have a few seeds!)
Once this process is completed, cut the tomatoes into chunks and place ½ of them in the large pot that was set aside.
Onions and Peppers. Peel and cut onions into thin slices lengthwise and mince the garlic. In two to three batches, cook the onions and garlic in a sautee pan with *1-2 tablespoons of olive oil until tender and translucent. As the onions are cooking, wash, seed and slice the peppers in long thin strips. Add the cooked onions into the reserved large pot, right over the tomatoes. Cook peppers in sautee pan, be sure to add *olive oil as needed, cook until tender. As with the onions, you may need to cook in two to three batches. Once peppers are cooked add them to the large pot, right over the onions.
Next steps. Add the remaining peeled cubed tomatoes to the pot. Add thyme and laurel leaves, cover and place on low fire, stirring gently occasionally (making sure nothing sticks).
Eggplant and zucchini next steps. Rinse and pat dry zucchini and eggplant, separately cook zucchini and eggplant in sautee pan with *1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, until tender. At this point I get a little antsey and will get a second sautee pan out so that I can get this show on the road! Add the eggplant and zucchini to the large pot, place the lid on and let cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking at the bottom.
Final steps..Salt and pepper to taste. At this point if you want the mixture to be a bit more tomato-y add a tablespoon or two of diluted (with water) tomato paste. Adjust seasonings and cook with lid on at moderate temperature, until everything starts to melt, another 30-45 minutes at least. Serve warm or room temperature!
* Olive oil, don’t really skimp on the olive oil, you may need 2-3 tablespoons per batch of veggies that you cook!