Quick and Easy Ratatouille

Photo: Cari Snell

Ingredients

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced and divided

1 medium sweet yellow onion

1 small eggplant

2 smalls zucchini

1 pint mini heirloom tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes if you can't get heirloom)

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Preparation

Slice your eggplant into 1/2 inch slices, set in a colander and salt. Let sit 15 minutes before rinsing, patting dry and then cutting into 1/2 inch cubes. Set aside.

Slice onion into 1/2 inch slices. Set aside.

Slice zucchini into 1/2 inch disks. Set aside.

Wash and dry tomatoes. Set aside.

Set one large heavy bottom pan to the side.

Place four medium sized pans over medium heat with one tablespoon of olive oil in each. Once hot, begin to saute onion in one pan, eggplant in another pan, zucchini in another pan and tomatoes in the last pan. You are going to add a clove of minced garlic and a pinch of sea salt and pepper to each pan near the last 2 minutes of cooking time:

Onion should be cooked until almost carmelized, about 16 - 18 minutes.

Eggplant should be cooked until very soft, about 16 - 18 minutes.

Zucchini should be soft and slightly browning (you might have to turn the heat up at the end for a couple minutes), about 14 - 16 minutes.

Tomatoes should be soft and almost to the point of breaking, about 8 -1 0 minutes.

Once all the vegetables are cooked and transfered to the large pan, set the large pan on medium heat and saute gently until warmed through. Taste and adjust seasonings if neccessary then serve.

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About

I told the kids we were having ratatouille as part of our meal for tonight's dinner. My almost 5 year old got the most confused then incredulous look on his face before exclaiming quite enthusiastically, "We're having rat!?!?!" I should have known better.

After explaining that ratatouille was actually the name of a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish, usually served as a side and not a cartoon character, he was still suspicious. "Oh no. Ratatouille is the name of a rat! I don't want to eat a rat!!" Oh thank you Disney.

When making ratatouille, Julia Child would insist on layering your vegetables by first sauteeing the zucchini with the eggplant seperately first before adding a sauce made with tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic on top. She would then tell you to pop it into the oven and let it bake. My time is limited and I had no peppers, so I did it my way, the quick way, and I tell you, I bet it could match or even beat Julia Child's method any day. (Uh oh. Did I just hear the sound of a few Julia Child's devote followers gasp? Sorry, but it was just so damn good and I'm feeling rather cocky!) I had to use a few pans at once because of my time restriction and because of my multiple pan approach, I had to really be on my toes, watching them all at the same time, but the result was absolutely worth it.

If you don't want to use so many pans and you have the time, you can saute each vegetable, one at a time, in a medium sized pan and transfer each vegetable to the large pan until they are all cooked.

There's a dinner party I'll be hosting soon and I will definitely be showcasing my ratatouille on lightly olive oiled and oven toasted French bread slices with a little goat's cheese sprinkled on top as our first course. Oh, they were so so good!