Ratatouille: A double header.

Some friends with green thumbs recently shared a wealth of tomatoes and a variety of fresh peppers with me. With a couple eggplants on the counter and a few yellow onions I had it in my head to make ratatouille for the first time in well over a decade. I pulled out my copy of “The Marathon Chef” by Michel Roux Jr as I like how simple and French his style is. Of course it makes enough food for a small, but very hungry, family so we had enough leftovers for an interesting twist on vegetarian lasagna (thus the second recipe in this post). Both turned out pretty good.

Note: I altered the Ratatouille recipe based on what I had on hand but it’s essentially based on the original.

Ratatouille

Ingredients

• 6 red peppers
• 4 green peppers
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 3 banana peppers
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3 zucchinis (courgettes as Michel Roux calls them)
• 2 eggplants
• 5 cloves of crushed then diced garlic (he calls for 2)
• 1 very large bowl of fresh tomatoes processed in a blender but not purred
• One bunch of thyme & 1 Bay leaf
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Process

1. Cut peppers into quarters then dice.
2. Roughly chop the onion, zucchini’s, eggplants and peppers.
3. Crush then peel and dice the garlic.
4. Heat a nonstick pan and smear with olive oil.
5. Pan fry the onion, zucchini’s, eggplants and peppers separately placing in colander to drain as you go.
6. Pour the tomato mixture into a large pot or casserole dish over medium heat.
7. Add the thyme, Bay leaf, salt and crushed pepper.
8. Mix in the vegetables and bring to a simmer.
9. Lower the heat, cover with lid and cook for 25 minutes.

Ratatouille Lasagna

Ingredients

• 60g butter
• 50g (1/3 cup) plain flour
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups Ratatouille liquid
• 70g (1 cup) finely grated parmesan
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 x 250g pkt cooked lasagna noodles
• 1/2 quantity of Ratatouille (see Related Recipe)
• 250g mozzarella, sliced
• Mixed salad leaves, to serve

Process

1. Drain the cooked Ratatouille mixture using a colander and a large bowl to separate the liquid from the mixture and reserve for the cream sauce.
2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming.
3. Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture bubbles and begins to come away from the side of the pan.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Gradually add half the heavy cream, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk until smooth.
6. Gradually add the remaining heavy cream, whisking until smooth and combined.
7. As the sauce becomes stiff slowly add in the liquid Ratatouille mixture and continue stirring for 10 to 15 minutes.
8. Place over medium-high heat.
9. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon.
10. Remove from heat. Stir in parmesan. Season with salt, nutmeg and cayenne pepper.
11. Preheat oven to 180°C.
12. Spread one-third of the sauce over the base of a 3L (12-cup) capacity rectangular baking dish.
13. Top with half the lasagna sheets.
14. Top with half the ratatouille.
15. Continue layering with remaining sauce, lasagna sheets and ratatouille.
16. Top with the mozzarella.
17. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden.
18. Set aside for 10 minutes to stand.