Garden Stew Ratatouille Food

RATATOUILLE - RUSTIC FRENCH VEGETABLE STEW

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Heat a large, deep pan over medium heat add a swirl of olive oil and begin lightly sweat your vegetables in the pan, cooking lightly without colour; zucchini, eggplant and peppers, one vegetable type at a time seasoning lightly as you go. Add more olive oil as needed until your vegetables are just starting to soften, then pour or scoop off into a waiting strainer over a large bowl. Reserve at room temperature.
• In the same pan, add more olive oil as needed and start sweating your onions until transparent, stirring as needed (about 4 minutes). Add finely chopped garlic and parsley and cook for a minute or two more before adding diced roma tomatoes and cooking for about three minutes. Finally, add your canned tomatoes, crushing them by hand as you add them to the pan. Season and stir. Reduce heat to medium-low to simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce by half, stirring as needed.
• Once your sauce is reduced add your waiting vegetables into the sauce, stirring to coat. Add fresh thyme and bay leaf, cover loosely with tinfoil, punch vents in tinfoil to allow steam to escape. Place in waiting 350°F oven (180°C) for about an hour, remove tinfoil and while it's out, fish out bay leaves and any thyme stems then return to the oven, uncovered for about 15 minutes, to dry the top of the stew just a little bit.
• Remove from the oven, add fine chiffonade of basil and stir to combine.

RATATOUILLE STEW

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggplant, yellow squash and zucchini, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, 5 more minutes. Stir in the basil and cook 1 more minute. Stir in the tomatoes (with their juices) and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 10 minutes to allow the flavors to develop. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Garnish with chopped basil and serve with Garlic Crostini.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the baguette slices on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake just until crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly, then each slice with the garlic clove.
• Per serving: Calories 361; Total Fat 11 grams; Saturated Fat 2 grams; Protein 13 grams; Total Carbohydrate 56 grams; Sugar: 9 grams; Fiber 8 grams; Cholesterol 0 milligrams; Sodium 924 milligrams

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.

GARDEN STEW (RATATOUILLE)

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.
• Add more ingredients and spices to taste.
• Freezes well.

RATATOUILLE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare the vegetables: Smash and peel 3 garlic cloves, reserving the 4th. Halve onions through their roots, and slice halves into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Slice zucchini into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Cut eggplant into 1-inch cubes or spears. Seed peppers, and cut them into 1/4-inch-thick strips.
• Spread each vegetable on a separate rimmed baking sheet (use extra sheets as necessary). Add the 3 cloves of smashed garlic to the onion pan. Add 1 sprig rosemary and 2 sprigs thyme to each of the pepper, eggplant and zucchini pans. Sprinkle salt lightly over vegetables. Drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil on each of the pans.
• Place all the pans in the oven (or work in batches if they don't fit at once). Cook until vegetables are very tender and lightly browned at the edges. This will take about 35 to 40 minutes for the peppers (their skins should shrivel), 40 to 45 minutes for the eggplant and zucchini (the eggplant should crisp slightly and the zucchini should be well cooked, so let them go 3 to 5 minutes longer than you normally might), and 60 to 65 minutes for the onions. Don't worry about the vegetables being pretty; they will meld into the ratatouille. Shake or stir the pans every 15 to 20 minutes or so, especially the onions.
• In the meantime, prepare the tomatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add tomatoes and blanch until the skins split, about 10 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to quickly transfer the tomatoes to a bowl filled with ice water.
• Using a paring knife, peel the cooled tomatoes (the skins should slip right off). Halve tomatoes across their equators. Set a sieve over a bowl. Working over the bowl, use your fingers to seed the tomatoes, letting the seeds catch in the sieve and the juice run into the bowl. Discard seeds but save juices. Dice tomatoes and add to the reserved juices in bowl.
• Finely grate or mince remaining garlic clove. Add garlic to tomatoes along with bay leaves and a large pinch of salt. Set aside.
• Once vegetables are done cooking, combine them on one baking sheet or a large shallow baking dish and add ingredients from tomato bowl. Toss well. Vegetables will be stacked, and that's O.K. Cover generously with olive oil, using remaining ¼ cup oil or more, and sprinkle with salt. Everything should have a good coat of oil, but should not be drowning in it. Cook at least 1 hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are very tender and imbued with juices and oil. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve warm, or let cool.

RATATOUILLE

Steps:

• In a large skillet cook the onion and the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and heat it over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Add the eggplant and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is softened. Stir in the zucchini and the bell pepper and cook the mixture over the moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occassionaly, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the oregano, the thyme, the coriander, the fennel seeds, the salt, and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the basil and combine the mixture well. The ratatouille may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated before serving.