Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, originated in Nice, Ratatouille niçoise is the full name for the dish. The dish is usually served as a side dish but it also can be served as a meal on its own. From the picture itself the dish is really tempting my appetite and I really wanna try to cook this dish.

                                                                          

^{There are actually many ways to cook the dish. I''m gonna share with you 4 recipes on how to cook Ratatouille.}

^{First recipe:}

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Preparation Time: 1:45 hours

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants (about 2 1/2 pounds), peeled and cubed Salt 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 medium-size onions, chopped or sliced 3 ripe but firm tomatoes (about 1 pound), seeded and quartered

2 medium-size zucchini, peeled and thinly sliced 3 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into thin strips 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 tablespoons dried herbes de Provence, wrapped in cheesecloth Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Lay the eggplant cubes on some paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Leave them to drain of their bitter juices for 30 minutes then pat dry with paper towels.

2. In a large skillet or casserole, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then cook the onions until translucent, about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, and garlic and shake or stir gently. Add the herbes de Provence, season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix. Cover and simmer over a medium-low heat until much of the liquid is evaporated and the vegetables tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Strain away any remaining liquid and serve at room temperature with bread.

Variation:  In step 2, cook each vegetable one after the other, adding more olive oil when required, and mix all the vegetables once they are cooked.

Second recipe: (Traditional)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium or large eggplant, diced
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 2 medium zucchini diced into large chunks
• add herbs as desired (try basil)
• olive oil (enough to sauté onion/garlic)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Sauté the onion and garlic until tender
• Add eggplant and tomatoes, bring to simmer
• Simmer, covered for 15 minutes
• Add zucchini
• Simmer for 10-15 more minutes until vegetables are suitably soft
• Remove from heat
• Stir in the herbs, season to taste

Serve over:

• Rice
• Egg noodles
• Pasta
• Boiled, cubed potatoes

 Third Recipe: (Easy)

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 onions, slivered
• 3 bell peppers, cut into one inch squares(try different colors)
• 2 eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
• 2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy soup pot on medium heat. Sliver onions and add to oil.
2. While the onions cook, chop the bell peppers and add them to the pot, stirring well.
3. Chop the eggplants and add to the pot, stirring well to coat the eggplant with oil. At this point all the olive oil will have soaked into the eggplant, so you need to stir often to keep things from burning until they soften some.
4. Chop the zucchini and stir it in once the eggplant has softened a bit.
5. Chop the garlic and add to the vegetables, stirring well. 
6. Chop the tomatoes and add them.
7. Mince the thyme and add it along with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and cook two minutes.
8. Turn down heat and cover the pot. Simmer until everything is soft and well blended - about 40 minutes.
9. Stir in basil and remove from heat.

Fourth recipe: (Classical Method)

Ingredients:

1.6 kg tomato [tomate]
700 g eggplant (2) [aubergine]
500 g zucchini (2) [courgette]
700 g bell pepper (2-3) [poivron]
1 kg onion [oignon]
6 cloves garlic [ail]
Herbes de Provence (basilic,thyme, parsley)
olive oil [huile d'olive]
salt, pepper [sel, poivre]
140 g tomato paste

Directions:

1. Cut the eggplant into rondelles; keep separate. Peel the zucchini, cut into rondelles, keep separate. Clean the bell pepper, cut into small strips, keep separate. Chop the onion, keep separate.

2. Peel, de-seed and drain the tomatoes (*)

3. Using four separate cooking pots, put some olive oil in the bottom; put in the eggplant, zucchini, pepper, and onion into their own pots; sprinkle some flour onto the eggplant and onto the zucchini. Put the four pots on to cook slowly. Each cooks for about 30 minutes, but test and cook each until correctly soft.

4. In a large cooking pot with a thick bottom, put in olive oil, chopped garlic, herbes de Provence. Squeeze the tomatoes in by hand. Cook slowly until you have a thick tomato sauce.

5. Add the four separately cooked vegetables to the tomato sauce, mix thoroughly and heat. Pour off the excess oil from the top. It's ready to serve. 

Yum yum...nice isn't it?? I'm so gonna try to cook this!! Ratatouille...Wait for me~!!!!

20101109    9.57PM