Ratatouille

After watching the movie and seeing how amazing a cartoon version of Ratatouille can be, I started researching recipes.  Some were way easy and some were super complicated that took a lot of ingredients.  I took the medium level route. It was pretty much amazing.  The vegetables really shrunk down and Nick felt like he didn't get enough to eat so the second time I made this, I put it in one large baking casserole dish rather than individual ramekins.  It made it much easier, but it didn't have a much liquid.  I like the liquid on the bottom to dip my bread in.  I think I'll leave the seeds in the tomatos next time so there is more liquid on the bottom.  Kind of like a vegetable french onion soup.  Yummy!







Ratatouille

Ingredients:

1 small onion (sliced into thin circles)

1 zucchini (sliced into thin circles)

2-3 small Japanese eggplants (sliced into thin circles)

1 bag of baby peppers from the veggie stand

2-3 plum tomatoes (seeded and sliced into thin circles)

6 cloves of garlic (peeled)

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (or soy parm cheese!)

2 TBS Balsamic Vinegar

1 tbs thyme

1 tbs oregano

1 tbs parsley

3 tbs fresh basil

3 tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 and roast garlic and peppers for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and slice the peppers, mash the garlic.

Turn oven down to 350.  In large casserole or oven save dish, layer the onions to cover the bottom.  Drizzle balsamic vinegar over them.  Add a few sprinkles of the thyme, organo, parsley, and basil.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and sprinkle some cheese over the top.  Repeat this process with remaining vegetables (I only put one dash of balsamic vinegar since it has a really strong flavor).  Top with remaining cheese.

Cover and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour.  Remove cover and bake for 10 minutes, to brown cheese.

Great with French baguettes!!