Ratatouille - Where Have You Been All My Life?

Apron gifted from Anthro

Welcome to my kitchen! Today I'm putting on my Giada De Laurentiis pants and am cooking up a little dish you've probably heard of in the form of a movie title, but is actually so much more. A little dish you know by the name of Ratatouille! (Pronounced "Rat-ta-too-ee")

And for the record...no...I didn't cook this little guy for dinner...

My Uncle John was the very first person to introduce this platter of deliciousness to me and I knew from that day forward, it was going to make it's way to the top of my recipe list.

I made this dish for the first time this Thanksgiving and maybe I'm bias...maybe my guests were truthful when they told me it was delicious...but either way-I'm going to go ahead and assume it was a hit.

I mean...look at it...

Besides the fact that Ratatouille is so colorful and pretty and fairly simple to make, it's incredibly healthy, too! I wish I would have had the time to take pictures while I was actually preparing it because the layers of the veggies were so bright and fun but I had 20-something people glaring at me to hurry up and make this dish so they could divulge in turkey and stuffing so photos were the absolute last thing on my mind. I actually had to pull it out of the oven to take that top photo specifically for this post. (See...I was totally thinking about you all on in the midst of my Thanksgiving fiasco...)

Let's get 'er started, shall we?!

Ingredients:

•  1 1/3 lbs small eggplants
• 1 1/3 lbs medium zucchini
• 1 3/4 lbs plum tomatoes (or any kind of tomatoes, really)
• 2 small yellow onions
• 3 tsp herbes de Provence
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• 8 fresh sage leaves, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Instructions:

Using a mandolin slicer (trust me, you'll want one of these babies to make this entire recipe), cut eggplants cross wise into 1/8 inch rounds, being careful to not slice off your own fingertips. In a colander, toss sliced eggplant with 1 tsp sea salt. Let rest for 1 hour (to remove bitter taste from eggplant), then pat eggplant dry with kitchen towel and transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tsp herbes de Provence.

Cut zucchini and tomatoes crosswise into 1/8 inch rounds. Place each in two separate bowls; sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp herbes de Provence.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil an 8 x 10 glass or ceramic dish. Scatter onions evenly over bottom of dish. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt and a touch of olive oil.

Arrange a row of overlapping tomato slices along one side of the dish, making sure to pack them in tight so that they are almost upright. Sprinkle with a little sage and garlic. Follow with a row of overlapping eggplant slices and a row of zucchini slices, sprinkling each with a little sage and garlic as you go.

Repeat this pattern until you've filled up your dish and used all of your veggies. If you have leftover veggies, squeeze them in between layers.

Drizzle the top with 3 tbsp olive oil, cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Increase your oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until vegetables are tender and tops of veggies are slightly browned (about another 30 minutes). Serve hot & enjoy!

Seriously...get in mah belly!

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If roasted vegetables are your thing, Ratatouille is your game. You're welcome.