Ratatouille Rustic French Vegetable Stew 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