Ratatouille

source
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree
1/2 tsp. Italian herbs
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 eggplant, small ones look prettier
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 long red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh basil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes, one tablespoon of the olive oil, and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. Trim the top of the red pepper and remove the core.
With a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into slices as thin as you can.
Arrange slices of prepared vegetables on top of the sauce, concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. (You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.)
Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Sprinkle chopped basil over the dish.
Cover dish. Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with Parmesan cheese, and with some crusty French bread.

Source: modified slightly from the recipe at The Comfort of Cooking

No comments:

Post a Comment