ratatouille

eggplant, tomatoes, and garlic

a.k.a. ratatouille, sort of. An authentic ratatouille would contain zucchini (not a fan) and be sauteed (not as easy).

Eli’s mom always brings basketloads of tasty edibles when she comes for a visit. The visit before last, she brought these gorgeous tomatoes and that incredibly jewel-toned eggplant from the Spartanburg farmer’s market. I’m pretty sure it was a hint to make this. But we never got around to it, and these beauties sat forlornly on the counter for a couple of days after her departure. One afternoon I woke up feeling frisky and went into the kitchen completely unarmed with any sort of research or recipe; into the cast iron pot those tomatoes and eggplant went, along with a bell pepper, a haphazardly chopped onion, a few hacked cloves of garlic, pinches of spices, and a couple glugs of olive oil. Then into a searing oven went that cast iron pot, resulting in some beautifully roasted vegetables with enough succulent juices to coat a bowl of pasta cloaked in parmesan. It was sooo good.

red bell peppers, eggplant, onions, tomatoes, garlic

pasta with pepper and parmesan

ratatouille just out of the oven

a bowl of pasta with ratatouille and parmesan

 

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Ratatouille

1 eggplant, cubed into 1″ pieces

2 tomatoes, cut into eighths

3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

olive oil

dry oregano, dry basil, salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 375.

Toss vegetables, a few splashes of olive oil, and spices in a cast iron pot or any sort of roasting pan until well-combined. Cover and bake until veggies are tender and juices are bubbling, about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on your oven. If you want to caramelize them a bit and reduce the juices, uncover for the last 15 minutes of baking.


 



5 responses to “ratatouille”

  1. RavieNomNoms says:

    GORGEOUS! I love ratatouille! It is SO yummy!

  2. Laura says:

    So funny! I popped over here from Tastespotting because I *love* a good ratatouille but I always make mine with extra zucchini because I’m not a fan of eggplant. Haha. Either way, I love how stewed yours looks compared to how mine usually turns out. I’ll be sure to try your covered/uncovered baking and the noodles, too!

  3. That looks simply delightful!

  4. Jen says:

    hope you all enjoy it!

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