Ratatouille Second Time Around Recipes

RATATOUILLE, SECOND TIME AROUND

Steps:

• Bring the ratatouille out of the fridge to bring back to room temperature. Perk up and change the flavor with lemon zest and lemon juice, salt and pepper. On each dinner plate make a wreath of washed, torn lettuce leaves Make an inner wreath of ratatouille, leaving some room in center of plate for tuna or chicken. Garnish with black olives and basil chiffonade.
• Heat olive oil in a large heavy enamellined casserole. Add peppers and onions and saute for a minute to get them cooking. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer very gently until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Don't let olive oil get too hot or you will change the flavor. While these are cooking, cut eggplant into 3/4inch chunks. When peppers and onions are tender, add the garlic, eggplant, tomatoes and thyme and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes.
• While this is cooking cut zucchini and yellow squash lengthwise into halves or quarters, depending on how thick they are. Remove seeds with a spoon, then cut into 3/4 inch lengths. After 30 minutes of stewing eggplant, add zucchini and squash to stew, cover and simmer, over very low heat until all the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes ( you can simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes for more meltingly tender vegetables). Strain the stew through a sieve and return juices back to casserole. Reduce the juices over medium heat until they begin to sizzle in the olive oil. Return this to the stew, season well to taste with salt and pepper. Divide ratatouille into two portions to proceed.

RATATOUILLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Cook and stir until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
• Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Spread zucchini in an even layer over top. Lightly salt and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Continue layering in this fashion, with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes, covering each layer with a sprinkling of salt and cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

THE BEST RATATOUILLE

Steps:

• Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering, about 1 minute. Add the bell peppers, onion and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent and the bell peppers have softened slightly, about 10 minutes. Add the eggplant, the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until the eggplant is very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the zucchini and continue to cook, stirring often, until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste and red pepper flakes, if using. Cook, stirring often, until the zucchini has softened, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the tomatoes, bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the ratatouille has reached a thick stew-like consistency, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and basil with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into a bowl and sprinkle with more fresh parsley and basil before serving.