Ratatouille

Ratatouille is one of those dishes that I view as a staple.

It’s a dish that transports me to being in my small studio apartment, huddling over the stove in my four-foot-wide kitchen and dipping bread into the skillet. Or to my friends’ lovely little flat in Paris where we spent the day wandering from market to market to pick up the ingredients for an intimate dinner.

Ratatouille is a delightfully simple, colorful, and nutritious dish. Whether you want to bring something wow-worthy to a dinner party, or you want to cook something special for yourself, this rainbow of vegetable medallions are sure to fit the bill.

Ingredients -

• 2-4 tbsp olive oil

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 yellow onion, chopped

• 1/3 cup carrot, finely chopped or grated

• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

• 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

• 1 tablespoon fresh basil

• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley

• 1 small eggplant, sliced in thin rounds

• 2 small zucchini, sliced in thin rounds

• 2 small yellow squash, sliced in thin rounds

• 3 Roma tomatoes, sliced in thin rounds

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions - 

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a large nonstick pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Add in the onion, garlic, bell pepper, and carrot and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Next, add in the crushed tomatoes and seasonings and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Once the sauce has thickened, pour into a baking dish or cast-iron skillet. Arrange the sliced vegetables in a circular pattern in the dish over the sauce. Spoon over chopped fresh parsley. basil, and garlic and olive oil. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until vegetables are tender. Serve with more fresh herbs and some crusty bread or whole grain pasta.