Let’s eat: Ratatouille edition

This is the one where I attempt to make Ratatouille using Tasty’s recipe.

Ratatouille is a French dish originating around the 18th century. No, it sadly didn’t come from a cute little rat named Remy. 

What is now a shmancy-looking dish actually was eaten by peasant farmers who had vegetables that were ripening all at one time. The draw to make this may have spurred from the Disney movie’s aesthetic formation of the vegetables lining the dish. But, why sit around a watch an animated version when you could make your very own?

Here are the ingredients you will need:

4 tbsp of fresh Basil

2 tsp Thyme

2 tbsp Parsley, fresh

4 cloves Garlic

1 Eggplant

1 Onion

2 bell peppers

6 Roma tomatoes

1 28 oz can Tomatoes

2 Yellow squashes

2 Zucchinis

Pepper

Salt

Olive Oil

Optional: Side of sourdough bread

I began the recipe with getting out all of the vegetables I need and separating based on where they go in the dish. All of the vegetable that were going in the sauce off to the left, and all of the vegetables put on top (main ingredients) to the right.

I began slicing the squash, eggplant, tomatoes and zucchini in (somewhat) even slices. I kind of failed at this due to the uneven sizes of the veggies.

After those were done, I diced the onion and the 2 peppers. I only used green peppers, but the recipe recommends using red and yellow bell peppers.

The pot I used is a glass dish that can be used on the stove top or in the oven, and perhaps for even better results, using a cast-iron dish would be the way to go.

I added the diced peppers, onions and some garlic to a pot with olive oil and let it simmer on medium heat for a few minutes before dumping in the tomato sauce. You’re going to want to add in salt and pepper to the sauce while it’s heating up!

While all of this is heating, start to assemble the order in which you would like your veggies to go on top of the sauce. I chose zucchini, eggplant, tomato and then yellow squash. Start laying out the thinly-sliced veggies in a spiral shape going around the circular dish (go from out to in).

Mine is nowhere near perfection, but I was trying to get all of the pieces that I had cut to fit in the dish while still being exposed.

After your veggies are all spiraled on the sauce, make a mixture of olive oil, basil, thyme, parsley, salt and pepper and drizzle it on top of the four different types of veggies.

Now, clean your kitchen and do something productive in the hour this dish needs! I cleaned, caught up on some homework and edited these pics. 😉

The veggies sunk in to the sauce a bit, but that’s okay because they’re still visible and the dish?

Delish.

This requires a lot of time, but the actual meal is extremely tasty and good for you! The meal totals at around 315 calories.