Quick and Easy Ratatouille
Photo: Cari Snell
Ingredients
Preparation
Tools
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!