Oven-Roasted Ratatouille

Happy New Year! At least here in the U. S. Yes, it's almost Rosh Hashanah. But today is the new year!

January 1st isn't, right? I mean, it's crammed at the end of the holidays, the last gasp of utter exhaustion. It's not really at any change of seasons. You don't really do anything different from 12/31 to 1/2.

But the day after Labor Day in the States? It's truly the new year. The kids go back to school--or are already there. Everyone bears down a bit more at work. Everyone's even at the office at the same time! The days are starting to turn shorter. Time itself just feels different.

I've always felt we in the U. S. should celebrate this day as the new year. It's time to start new projects, new ideas. It's time to get more serious about our reading. It's red wine, not white.

Best of all, you can have a new year and not even think about any darn resolutions. Except more real food, of course.

I love this recipe that Bruce made up for THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK, our 500-recipe tome. Mostly because (yes, I admit it) I've never liked ratatouille. I don't know about you, but for me it's always too soft and squishy. I'm not much into soft food. Unless it's pudding. Then back up!

But by roasting the ingredients for the ratatouille, Bruce has turned it into more toothsome fare. Imagine: both roasted veggies AND ratatouille. Sold yet?

Shoot, I had it in omelets for a couple of days at lunch. And I also put it on stale bread, shaved Parmesan cheese on top, and broiled it for bruschetta.

So let's get to it. You'll end up with about 8 healthy side servings.

First, position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375F. You'll note from the pictures that Bruce actually made this version on the grill--heating it up for indirect cooking to the right temperature and using it "like an oven."

OK, you'll need to toss all this together in a big roasting pan: several medium tomatoes, chopped (maybe 3 or 4--or a couple big ones plus some small ones); 2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch pieces; 2 eggplants, cut into 1/2-inch chunks; 1 large or a couple of medium red onions, chopped; a couple of red bell peppers, seeded and chopped; 3 to 4 medium garlic cloves, minced; 1/4 cup olive oil (or a little more if you think the tomatoes are too fleshy); 1 tablespoon minced oregano leaves; 1 tablespoon minced thyme leaves; 1 teaspoon salt; and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (it will need more when it's done).

About those tomatoes. I actually like them skinned. (Yes, I'm fussy. When I was a preschooler, I actually used to call myself "Little Lord Flaunt-LeRoy." And yes, I'm spelling it the way I said it.) When the tomatoes skins come off in the mix after long roasting or braising, they get too squishy. Admittedly, it's a pain to peel tomatoes--dropping them in boiling water for 1 minute, chilling them, scraping off the skins. Not any more! Bruce found this cool tool from OXO: a serrated peeler, that takes the skins off tomatoes in a snap. It worked like a charm! And no more squishy skins in the ratatouille. Peace flourished in the land. You can find it here. To boot, you can peel peaches, apricots--all those things you used to have to boil or were hard to peel, now done and finished in no time.

OK, so on to the recipe. Which is really easy. Cover the roasting pan--with foil or a big lid--and roast for about 1 hour. Uncover the whole thing and continue roasting for another 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft but still have some tooth. Check the whole thing for salt--and you've got great ratatouille.

Comments

[Lizabeth]

Made it over the weekend after visiting the farmer's market -
yummy and easy! :)))))))
PS. I made a half recipe since the SO doesn't touch eggplant (more for moi!)
PSS. I could see using this to layer in lasagna...