Eating in - ratatouille style themes

Being utterly hopeless at resisting temptation, I have had a big clear out. There is no rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, sweets, etc. in the house. I have also made sure that there are lots of low carb food so that I don't head out for pizza. 

So this week we have been prepping. Ratatouille is a favourite. 

We either oven roast or barbecue onions, red and yellow peppers, tomatoes, aubergine (eggplant), and courgette (zucchini), then remove the skins and cut into rough chunks before cooking further. Without the skins this can also be frozen well (the skins of aubergine tend to go tough in the freezer).

Whether I eat it hot or cold, I stir in some fresh basil leaves and a grind of pepper at the last moment.

I love the ratatouille cold. Sprinkled with white feta cheese, which contrasts beautifully, and eaten with ham and some salad it is a really fast meal, packed full of veggies, and delicious.

With toast off the menu, ratatouille is a great base for a shakshuka style breakfast. I add roasted cumin for extra flavour as I reheat it then serve it in a bowl with a couple of poached eggs on top, their golden yolks soaking into the stew as I break them open, for a fabulous start to the day. Oh, and another sprinkling of feta cheese just makes them even better! I just need to eat it with a spoon, rather than dipping bread in!

Of course it is also perfect heated up and served as a side to the meal. 

I freeze it in individual portions and it doesn't take long to defrost. This means that I can have ratatouille any time I want.

Other options along the same theme are an oven roasted version and a terrine.

 

Recipes:      

 

Basic Ratatouille

Ingredients

500g tomatoes (I use fresh but canned will work too)

4 large Asian style aubergines

1 large courgette

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 large onion

Cloves of garlic to taste

For serving

Basil

Black pepper

Olives

Capers

 

Method

Step one

1.      Either roast or barbecue (the barbecue adds an extra depth of flavour which I love, but is hassly…) all the vegetables until blackened on the outside.

S    Step two

2.      Remove the skins from everything except the courgette and roughly chop (I like chunks but as finely as you prefer).

    Step three

3.      Cook together all the ingredients except the aubergine for a further 10 minutes.

    Step four

4.      Stir in the aubergine and removed from the heat.

At this point you can then serve it hot, or cool it and either refrigerate or freeze it for later.

Only add the basil, olives, capers and pepper just before serving.

Oven Roasted Version

Follow steps 1 and 2, then serve, refrigerate or freeze. Great with roasted chicken or fish.

 

Terrine Version

Follow step 1.

1.      Thinly slice the vegetables.

2.      Line a loaf tin (or ramekin) with cling film.

3.      Layer the veggies. If you are going to eat it within about 12 hours, also layer in basil leaves and feta cheese. If not, leave these out and add these on top when serving.

4.      When full, wrap the whole terrine in cling film and weight in down (for example with a can).

5.      Leave until serving (ideally a few hours later) then turn it out and serve. Delicious as a starter of a side dish and looks pretty too.

 

Shakshukaesque

Follow steps 1 – 3 in an oven proof pan.

1.      Pre-heat the oven to around 180°C.

2.      Add dry roasted cumin seeds.

3.      Stir in the aubergine.

4.      Either:

a)      make dips in the mixture and break eggs into the ratatouille and put in the oven for around 10 minutes until the egg white is cooked and the egg yolk runny then serve immediately.

b)      Or boil some water to a slow rolling boil. Add a spoon of vinegar. Break an egg into a bowl. Stir the water until a vortex is created. Drop the egg into the vortex. Remove around 3 minutes later with a slotted spoon once the white is cooked but the yolk remains runny.

Serve on top of the warmed ratatouille (maybe with basil and feta cheese).