Ratatouille 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.

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.

CHUNKY RATATOUILLE STEW

Steps:

• In a large pot, saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in hot oil, until tender.
• Add in the mushrooms, eggplant, and zucchini; stir.
• Add the beef broth and wine; bring the mixture to boiling; reduce heat.
• Simmer, covered, for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Add in the tomatoes with juice, basil, and salt and pepper to taste; cook until heated through.
• Ladle stew into individual bowls; sprinkle with provolone cheese.

RATATOUILLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Cook and stir until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
• Spread eggplant mixture evenly across bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Spread zucchini in an even layer over top. Lightly salt and sprinkle with a little more cheese. Continue layering in this fashion, with onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and tomatoes, covering each layer with a sprinkling of salt and cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

VEGETABLE STEW (BASED ON RATATOUILLE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190c.
• Place all ingredients EXCEPT peas and parsley .in a large baking dish and stir well to combine.
• Bake for about 1 hour (or until the potatoes are tender) stirring once or twice during cooking.
• When the potatoes are tender, add in the peas and cook a further 5 minutes then remove from the oven and stir through the chopped parsley.