One evening, inspired by the gorgeous vegetables we bought at the farmers market (especially the eggplant, which was exquisite), my son and I made this dish. It was so much fun to make, turned out very pretty and was delicious. The traditional ratatouille that I grew up with was made in a sauté pan and became a sort of vegetable stew. As you can see, this one is a bit different. Feel free to experiment by adding vegetables that you love and omitting those that you don’t love or don’t have. Be creative with this one. And of course, enjoy it!!!
Equipment
- Ice (and container to hold ice water bath)
- Food processor
- Baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 red onion
- 2 red bell peppers
- 6 Roma tomatoes OR 1 can fresh whole San Marzano tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Basil
- Oregano
- Thyme
Instructions
- Set water to boil and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Slice and salt eggplant.
- 3. Prepare tomatoes concassé (a method of peeling, seeding and chopping tomatoes to specified dimensions)(Here is a video explanation of concassé : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-dOd56WriI).
A. While water is boiling, cut out stem of tomato and then cut a small x on the bottom of the tomato.
B. Prep ice water bath.
C. Submerge one or two tomatoes at a time into boiling water for about a minute. Then remove tomatoes and place them into the ice water. Repeat cycle until all tomatoes are in ice water.
D. Peel tomatoes while still under the ice water.
E. Remove peeled tomatoes from ice water, quarter tomatoes and cut out seeds and innards.
F. Add tomatoes, garlic cloves and 6-8 large basil leaves into food processor and pulse to a rough chop.AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO STEP 3 A-F ABOVE: open a can of fresh whole San Marzano tomatoes, drain, and place contents into food processor. Add garlic cloves and 6-8 large basil leaves into food processor and pulse to a rough chop. - Strain excess water out of tomato mixture and spread the mixture evenly on the bottom of a baking dish.
- Slice zuccini, pepper and onion into circles and season with olive oil.
- Rinse salt off the eggplant and season eggplant with olive oil.
- Lay out sliced vegetables over tomato mixture in baking dish, alternating in rows.
- Sprinkle fresh oregano and thyme over layered vegetables and lightly salt to taste.
- Cover with parchment paper and place in oven for about 30 minutes.
- Remove parchment paper and continue cooking approximately 15 minutes more or until the veggies look roasted.
- Remove from oven and drizzle with olive oil.
Notes
Serve and enjoy.
