Everyone remembers Ratatouille, right? Ratatouille was literally the only movie I watched in middle school, and I’ve always wanted to make the eponymous dish. So, having not cooked a single plate or dish in almost half a year, I decided that it would be a great idea to attempt to make “ratatouille” because, in the words of Gusteau, “Anyone can cook!”
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 4-6
Ingredients:
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
½ onion, chopped
¼ cup minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
¾ cup water
1 small eggplant
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme leaves, fresh
3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Photo by Smita Jain
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Chop onions into small pieces and mince garlic.
Photo by Smita Jain
Photo by Smita Jain
3. Spread tomato paste onto bottom of a large baking dish (at least 10″x10″), covering entire surface area. Evenly sprinkle onion and garlic pieces.
Photo by Smita Jain
4. Stir in olive oil and water until contents is thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Photo by Smita Jain
5. Chop remaining vegetables into thin slices.
Photo by Smita Jain
Photo by Smita Jain
6. Arrange vegetable slices in baking dish, so that they fall into a pattern; order doesn’t really matter as long as you don’t overlap two of the same type of vegetable.
Photo by Smita Jain
7. Drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil over stacked vegetables and season again with salt and pepper.
8. Strip thyme of its leaves and sprinkle on about 1 teaspoon of leaves.
Photo by Smita Jain
9. Cover with parchment paper (tin foil works if you don’t have parchment paper) and bake in oven for 45 minutes.
Photo by Smita Jain
To Serve: Serve with cheese and any grain of your liking! (I used french bread.)
Photo by Smita Jain
After almost a full semester of only dining hall grub and junk food from Asian Ghetto, my almost purely carnivorous palate enjoyed this fresh, colorful break.
Special thanks to my roommates, David and Xavier, for helping me out!
Recipe inspired by this one.