ratatouille

Have you seen that movie, Ratatouille? I loved it. (surprise, surprise) Well, I set out to recreate this dish. I succeeded!!

It was beautiful! And tasted even better…and if you think you are one of those people that doesn’t like veggies…think again! They are so flavorful in this dish…enrobed in a silky tomato puree and little herby notes of thyme in the background. Trust me, give this vegetable dish a try – you’ll be hooked!

Ratatouille

2 big servings.

Serve with soft ricotta or goat cheese! Yum!
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 small eggplant
2 small zucchinis
1 red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375˚.

Pour tomato sauce into bottom of a 9”x 5” oval baking dish. Sprinkle the garlic and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Trim the ends off the eggplant and the zucchinis. Cut into very thin slices, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut red bell pepper into small squares, the same size as the eggplant and zucchinis.

On top of the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a bit of each veggie shows, alternating vegetables. (You’ll probably have some that doesn’t end up fitting)

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper or foil cut to fit inside.

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.