Friday, August 24, 2007

Ratatouille

Ratatouille….when I had this very Provencal product for the first time, it left a much bigger impression on my mind than I had thought it would. I had heard about it, seen pictures online but every time I kept saying to myself---this is just any other mixed vegetable stew, so what’s the big deal? Well, it definitely is a big deal and I was convinced when I ate Ratatouille for lunch at our French friends, Fab and So’s place more than a year back. They are originally from Provence in France. So I will leave it to your imagination to guess how good this lunch must have been! As for me, I was literally dancing after eating this ratatouille. All of my favorite vegetables, cooked together with olive oil, garlic and the world famous “Herb de Provence”……I almost wanted to lick the pot!

Unfortunately it was not until recently that I had a chance to cook Ratatouille at home. Yes, I know that you are going to think that I just talked of being so utterly obsessed with it, but then why hadn’t I tried making it at home for such a long time. May be I was waiting for the long spell to break with a very special gift that I got from the same friends when we visited them in Marseilles. Yes, Herb de Provence! That was my gift directly from its birthplace. Could anything go wrong with my Ratatouille now?

Given the experimental bug in me that refuses to give up, anything and everything could have still gone wrong. That’s because I wanted to make a broiled version of Ratatouille. And so I did! I managed to retain its authentic flavors while taking the liberty to tweak the recipe. It was definitely a hit with my friends on a recent Friday night dinner!

Ingredients:

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tbs Herb de Provence
1 onion, diced
1 large eggplant, cubed
1 large green bell peppers, diced
1 large red bell peppers, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 large zucchinis, cubed
1/3 cup cheese (Optional)
Salt and pepper as per your taste

Method:
1. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof dish under the broiler.
2. Add garlic and onions and broil them until they start to turn slightly brown.
3. Add all the vegetables except the tomatoes and broil the mixture until it is almost cooked, mixing after every 7-8 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 10 minutes until all the vegetables are completely cooked.
5. Finally add Herb de Provence, salt and pepper and mix well.
6. Top with cheese and broil for another 5 minutes.

Serving:
Serve the ratatouille hot as a side or main dish. Eat it plain or serve with a side of French bread or couscous.

21 comments:

Literary Juice said...

At first I seriously thought you were posting a recipe for cooking Ratatouille, the mouse.

Duh, Sara. Duh.

bha said...

hey i always wanted to taste Ratatouille since I read about it in a book....i am just waiting for my chance ...either to be invited or cook my own

J said...

Ratatouille reminds me of the movie :) It does seem intersting to me as I don't really try too many different cuisines :)

Katie Zeller said...

It looks like a lovely ratatouilli!
It's one of those dishes with a million recipes - as many as there are cooks who make it. Now there's one more! I, personally, like the idea of roasting the veg a lot....maybe next time I'll try your way....
And leave the mouse alone....

Anonymous said...

incidentally Ratatouille - the disney animated movie is releasing in India today

Coffee said...

The pic says it all! :D Its one of my fav italian dishes as well! :)

Anonymous said...

I love raratoiille.
My recipe is almost same as your, just i don't add cheese.
Tours look yummy .

Laavanya said...

That is a lovely recipe Poonam. Hope to try it sometime soon. Thanks.

FH said...

Looks beautiful!:)
I made a similar one but with Indian spices.Fresh veggies are the best for this dish.Good one.

Deborah said...

I have never had ratatouille before, but I have been seeing different versions pop up everywhere. This version sounds very interesting and delicious!!

TBC said...

I've never had one before but I see that a lot of people are posting it these days. I must give this a shot soon

Richa said...

nice to see so many varieties of R going around!
looks delicious!

Cynthia said...

I seen a lot of ratatouille around Poonam and I must say that yours makes me want to go raid my crisper and make this. Great job.

Mansi said...

I seriously thought this was a funny post around Ratatouille the movie:) never knew this was a dish!!!

first time here...great blog!!

Sharmi said...

looking at the heading I thought you were musing about the movie. that looks new and nice. an informative one for me.

Savithri said...

Hi Poonam!
The ratatouille looks awesome. I've been wanting to make it since I saw the adorable movie:)

Raaga said...

The ratatouille looks delish... I just watched the movie last afternoon.... so I have to try this :-)

Padma said...

Ratatouille is on the board these days...nice recipe with neat photo!
great job!

amna said...

i dont think you are going to believe me! really i dont!! but here it is anyway.

I JUST saw the movie Ratatouille and thought I should look for the recipe online. i opened my blog n thought for some reason to visit a few and see whats new. urs is the first one i visted and guess what i saw??

its spooky.. really!

NB: thanks for posting it here and not making me google it :)

Mallika said...

I just got back from from France and I've been loving Ratatouille. Thanks soooo much for the recipe. You are a star!

Danielle said...

I'm hitting the farmer's market on Saturday in order to pick up the ingredients for your ratatouille. It looks amazing and delicious!

I'm newly vegetarian (as of yesterday, in fact) and I found your blog on vegetarian times comment section.

I have a blog, but it does have some meat recipes from last week. I just made the rustic stew without the beef, and it is amazing! It was always the veggies that I loved so much. They taste even better without the meat in there.