This is a little late because we really seem to be entering fall, but this is America, so most vegetables have no season any way I suppose. But truly, it is best in the summer with farmer’s market produce.
I mention this Ratatouille in my movie night post because what is more fun than watching the cutest Disney movie and eating the namesake dish? I also just love how bright and fresh this dish tastes. It goes with almost any protein you may be cooking - steak? Sure! Chicken, especially grilled chicken? Absolutely. Salmon can even stand up to it. Add a glass of wine, and I immediately feel halfway to Provence.
This is very much an “unrecipe” because it’s all about how many people you are serving (or in my case, how big your oven is). As always, a few things to note:
the main thing to note is to use the best, freshest produce you can.
You will need a mandoline slicer. If you don’t have one, this is a great simple and small one (it’s the one I use and I love it!). You can definitely get bigger ones like this that do all sorts of things, but if you are short on storage, the little one can definitely get the job done.
You want to try and find the squash and eggplants in similar circumference so that they all line up well.
Aly’s Ratatouille
Ingredients
Eggplant - Japanese or similar narrow varieties are best.
Tomatoes - Roma will do if you can find good ones but you can also use small hothouse or even halved slices of beefsteak tomatoes.
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Salt & Pepper (I use TJ’s Garlic Salt)
fresh basil (thinly torn pieces)
To Make
Mandoline slice medium-thin (this is honestly a preference thing) the eggplant, zucchini, and squash. Set aside.
Thinly slice the tomatoes (make sure your knife is sharp!) and if using a large variety, slice in half. You are trying to be around the size of your sliced vegetables.
In a baking dish (I use a loaf pan, but you can use a cake pan or even a 13x9 ) that has been lightly greased, start standing up the slices in a pattern - like zucchini slice, squash slice, eggplant slice, tomato slice, repeat. If using a rectangular pan, just go row by row. If using a round plan, make concentric circles. Save any leftover slices in an airtight container for salads, soups, etc. in the next few days.
Once the pan is full, sprinkle salt and pepper and Italian seasonings over top of veggies.
Spoon Tomato Sauce for Everything over top of the rows. You don’t want to drown the pan (the veggies will release water as they cook) but just enough to bake into the veggies and give good flavor.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your pan. Test doneness by testing the texture of a slice from the center. Veggies should be soft but not mush.
Sprinkle basil over the top and serve.