Ratatouille

RATATOUILLE

Ratatouille is the quintessential summer dish.  Organic squash are easy to find in the farmer’s markets and stores in August as are organic tomatoes and herbs.  If you have a tiny bit of land, the patty pan squash and the herbs used here are easy to grow (especially oregano and Italian parsley). Oregano is very cold tolerant and Italian parsley sometimes reseeds itself. Rosemary is nice to have over the winter in the house and is also good dried. The problem with ratatouille is that unless you somehow separately cook small batches of squash and tomato, the mixture basically turns into soup.  By the time it is reduced you have cooked the squash too long.  Here is my solution.  I layer the ingredients with capers preserved in sea salt – placing herbs on each layer.  I bought a huge bag of the capers - so in the end they were inexpensive and last forever. I then leave the layered dish in the fridge for at least a day, drain the liquid into a sauce pan and cook it separately from the vegetables.  Use any herbs, squash/vegetables and tomatoes that you desire.  This recipe is for a small batch, but  I often make a large batch and then freeze some.  Use my slow roasted tomatoes instead of fresh and you won’t have to buy tomato paste – see my next blog post!!!

Ingredients: 

•           3 medium squash (zucchini, summer squash, etc.)
•           1 large onion
•            4 medium tomatoes
•            less than 1/4 cup sea salt preserved capers
•          2 bunches of herbs (e.g. parsley,  rosemary).
•          2 to 4 tablespoons organic olive oil
•          1/2 to 1 7 oz. glass jar of organic tomato paste
•        1 to 2 cloves crushed garlic

Approximately 1 part onion to 3 parts squash and tomato.  For this recipe I used 3 medium patty pan squash, 1 large onion, and 4 medium tomatoes.  I used less than ¼ cup of capers preserved in sea salt (about a teaspoon per layer) and several bunches of herbs (parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary etc.).  The capers were not organic - I bought them in bulk at Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, MA.  I sometimes use winter squash but cut it thinner (1/8 inch slices) than the summer squash.  One may also use eggplant, mushrooms, peppers, black olives and green beans of course.  One half to one glass container (7 oz.) of organic tomato paste – metal cans may contain BPA and the acidity of the tomatoes may leach out more BPA (see http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130819162639.htm) than other foods.  Organic olive oil for cooking the squash/tomato/onion mixture (I use organic olive oil from Costco).  Organic garlic – one or two cloves.

Prep and Cooking:
- Cut the squash into ¼ inch slices, and slice the onions into 1/8 to ¼ inch slices – if onions are large then cut them into half or quarters before slicing. 

-Place a layer of onion and tomato in a nonreactive casserole dish or bowl, then place either salt or salted capers (less than a teaspoon of capers on each layer).


 -Place herbs on top, place a  layer of squash on top of the capers and herbs and put  another layer of capers and herbs, then onion, tomato,  capers and herbs, and so on until the dish is full. 

- Place a lid or wrap on top of the bowl and refrigerate for at least a day. I use a layer of parchment paper and a small plate on top.


- The next day drain the liquid into a saucepan, bring to a simmer, add crushed garlic and reduce it for 3 minutes.  Add ½ to 1 glass jar of organic tomato paste.

- Sauté the vegetables in batches on medium high heat using a little olive oil until they are almost cooked (almost translucent and until some are caramelized).   I cooked these in 2 batches.  Adjust the salt.