Ratatouille

7-Ratatouille

By Marcus Guimarães (Flickr) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Ratatouille is a French vegetable stew made famous by a popular Disney film which goes by the same name. If you have watched the movie, then you must remember the satisfying smile of Anton Ego, the food critic and how it reminded him of his Mom’s cooking. In reality, perfectly cooked ratatouille has the potential to evoke similar feelings in you. Get hold of the fresh veggie produce from the farmer’s market and stew them in their own juices to create a wholesome bowl of vegetable stew for your lunch. It’s simple, yet soothes your mind and soul.

Usually, veggies like zucchini, eggplants, tomatoes, onion, garlic and bell peppers are commonly used to prepare this dish while fresh aromatic herbs are used to pep it up further. However, you can tweak the veggies to suit your taste buds but never ever miss out the tomatoes; otherwise you’ll be robbing away the true essence of this stew. The prep work might be a tad boring but once ready, the flavors of this dish will enliven you again and the nutrients in it will keep you perked up for rest of the day.

So serve it as a side dish with roasted meat or have it just like that with crusty fitness  bread and enjoy!

 

Ingredients:

Serves: ?

  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 1 large onion, peeled and diced into large chunks
  • 4-5 tomatoes, diced
  • 1 large zucchini, diced
  • 2 Japanese eggplant, diced
  • 2 green bell peppers, diced
  • 6 fresh rosemary stalks
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 tbsp olive oil

Method:

  • Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over moderate heat until it shimmers.
  • Throw in the onion as well as garlic and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until they turn soft.
  • Dump rest of the veggies, save the tomatoes, and sauté further for another 5 minutes while stirring frequently.
  • Stir in the tomato chunks as well as the rosemary stalks and season with a dash each of sea salt, black and cayenne pepper.
  • Cook the mixture until it starts boiling and bring it down to a simmer.
  • Continue to do so for the next 15 minutes or until the tomatoes turn mushy and the eggplants are cooked through.
  • Serve right away.