Decades before the Disney-Pixar movie Ratatouille came out, my mom was looking for a way to get me to eat eggplant. As a child, I liked a lot of my vegetables, with a few exceptions like Brussels sprouts and eggplant. I vaguely remember a tomato-based stew that I slurped down, and when I was done, she asked if I liked it. I did! Especially the mystery brownish-blob of a vegetable. It was eggplant! When cooked in this French dish, the eggplant absorbs all of the delicious flavor of the other vegetables and loses any bitterness.
When we featured eggplants as our plant of the month, I started getting a craving for a batch of ratatouille. It’s a versatile dish that can help you find new uses for summer vegetables that may have come on in such abundance that they’re starting to lose the warm welcome you had for their first fruits.
In my case, I’m getting ready to go on vacation and was concerned about what the state of my over-ripening tomatoes would be when I returned, or if some of my warm-weather crops would even survive my absence, as I am not yet lucky enough to call myself a Dome Owner and overnight temperatures are already dipping into the upper 30s. Ratatouille to the rescue.
I basically followed this Ratatouille recipe by Jenn Segal with my own twists. What makes it ‘southwestern’ in my book is the addition of roasted green chiles, ubiquitous with the fall season here in the southwest. Feeling adventurous? You could also add some black beans for protein.
Ingredients for Ratatouille
1 large eggplant, cut into ½” cubes
Salt
6 Tbsps olive oil, plus more for serving
2 medium zucchini (about 1 lb), cut into ½” quartered slices
¼ large red onion, finely chopped
1 red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, cut into ¼-inch dice
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
5 large vine-ripened tomatoes (1¾ lbs), cut into ⅓-inch cubes, with their juices
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tsps fresh chopped thyme, plus more for serving, dried will work in a pinch
¾ teaspoon sugar
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
I used homegrown, dried buena mulata flakes.
3 Tbsps chopped fresh basil
More of my additions or substitutions:
3 ice cubes, approximately 4 Tbsps roasted, chopped, green chiles
½ Tbsp oregano or marjoram
1 tsp parsley or dried carrot tops
Black pepper – add to taste at every step that you add salt
4 mini sweet peppers to replace the bell peppers
Dried herbs to supplement the fresh herbs
Yellow or crookneck squash or patty pans, or any summer squash could be substituted for the zucchini. I was gifted by a co-worker, a very large white zucchini from her 22-foot dome, of which I only used half for this recipe.
Jenn recommends five cloves of garlic, and I only used two because I was in a hurry and my garlic press was dirty, so I only hand-grated two garlic cloves, and I wish I’d used more garlic or added some granules.
How to Make Ratatouille
1.) For the eggplant, I used what I had from my garden and the Growing Domes at the office, several small and different ones from traditional globes to Japanese/Chinese style, white and purple.
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick pan or pot over medium heat. I used a little less oil to start and added some more as the eggplant will readily absorb it. The eggplant will also quickly start to oxidize and turn brown after cutting, so I was sure to heat up my oil and pan before cubing or slicing it. As the eggplant cooked, I chopped the rest of my veggies.
Add the eggplant to the pan and season with ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently (or they will start to burn and stick), until soft and starting to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
2.) I skipped Jenn’s step two. She has you cook the squash (zucchini) much like the eggplant. I prefer a crisper summer squash and knew I would be freezing and reheating leftovers, which would also soften the squash, so I decided to throw it in as the last step and cook it to my desired doneness.
3.) Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan and add the onion and bell pepper. I used mini sweet peppers I had from the store, and a red onion instead of the originally recommended yellow onion. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue cooking for about 3 minutes more. Do not brown.
4.) Add the tomatoes and their juices, tomato paste, thyme, sugar, crushed red pepper flakes (if using) and ¾ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down into a sauce, 8 to 10 minutes.
Between the sweet peppers I used and my extremely sweet mystery heirloom tomatoes, I didn’t need any added sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. I was prepared to add a teaspoon of honey to taste. I also omitted the tomato paste as I didn’t have any on hand, and found I didn’t miss it.
This is also the stage where I added my green chiles and additional spices: oregano and dried carrot tops, which I use as a parsley substitute. I didn’t have a ton of fresh basil on hand because I’d forgotten to raid the domes and my homegrown is mostly reserved for pesto, so I added about a tablespoon of dried basil.
5.) Add the cooked eggplant to the pan; bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant is soft.
6.) Add the zucchini and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more, or until just warmed through. In my case, this is where I cooked the zucchini for the first time, so it took a little longer, but it still had a nice crunch. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary.
Serving & Storage Suggestions
Jenn suggests in her recipe, “Sprinkle with fresh basil and thyme, drizzle with a little olive oil if desired, and serve warm or chilled.” Just before serving, I stirred in another tablespoon or two of olive oil, topped with the fresh basil, and served alongside my adaptation of this cheesy zucchini muffin recipe that I made with the other half of the very large zucchini. I think a little Parmesan and croutons on top would be delicious.
My batch made about 6 servings. I took the leftovers for lunch on top of some spaghetti noodles I had cooked for a different meal and half a grilled sausage. The rest of the ratatouille, I’ve frozen in individual containers for that taste of the end of summer in the winter months ahead.
