Ratatouille
This was my first attempt at making ratatouille and I was extremely pleased with the results! I really like the olives I added for an extra dimension to the flavor. The aroma was absolutely heavenly while baking. I served this over whole grain brown rice mixture.
Ingredients
3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 small eggplant, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 summer squash, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, chopped
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
¼ cup large green olives, roughly chopped
3-4 large cloves garlic, minced
10 large basil leaves, thinly sliced
¼ t. fennel seeds
¼ t. coriander seeds
2 t. fresh thyme
¼ t. dried oregano
¼ t. crushed red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare mise en place; prep all your vegetables. Spread the eggplant, zucchini and summer squash out on a flat surface and lightly salt vegetables.
Using a spice grinder, crush the fennel and coriander seeds. Set aside.
Take one clove of garlic and lightly toss with the tomatoes. Spread a thin layer of tomatoes on the bottom of a large baking dish. Layer on top of the tomatoes a layer of the eggplant then season with half of the coriander fennel seed spices. Place another layer of tomatoes, onions and kalamata olives topped with another clove of minced garlic. Continue to alternate layers of tomato, onion, garlic, zucchini, summer squash, green olives, red pepper, basil leaves with the fresh thyme, oregano and crushed red pepper. Season the final layer with more thyme, oregano and a bit more crushed red pepper. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Vegetables should be completely cooked. This can also be slow cooked in the oven at 275 degrees for an hour and a half to 2 hours. Serve on top of mixed whole grain rice.
