Ratatouille

I forgot how fun it was to try a new recipe like this. I wonder if it's more of a fall winter pleasure for me, but I really enjoyed tackling ratatouille.

I had never heard of the dish ratatouille until the movie Ratatouille came out a couple of years ago. I got it for my youngest nieces. And when I saw it in the October edition of Everyday Food I decided that I wanted to try it. I doubt my preparation was perfect, but I thought it was divine. It has a very fresh flavor. And it's great if you're a vegetarian (Mari take note). I'm afraid I had to use a stock internet picture of it. For some reason, I can't get my cell phone pictures to e-mail to my computer right now. Once I can I'll show you my actual pictures of it.

I was a bit concerned because the recipe makes A TON, and I thought that I was either going to be throwing away a lot of food, or I'd have enough ratatouille for a lifetime. However, now that I've made it and eaten it, I know that the 11 single servings it made is not going to last all that long. This is definitely a keeper. I served it over rotini (spiral macaroni) with a 1/8 of a cup of shredded parmesan cheese.

In addition, I've never had eggplant that I've liked, so I was concerned when I saw that it was a key ingredient. Also, some of the techniques were new to me. For instance, it says to "squeeze out excess liquid" from the eggplant after letting it set covered in salt. Not knowing what to do, I used my hands. I picked up handfuls of the stuff and squeezed it. I was surprised how much liquid did come out, and how well the eggplant held up to that kind of treatment. Also, I had never roasted whole tomatoes in the oven the way this describes. It was unique, but not difficult.

By the way, the zuchinni, garlic, and oregano came from my garden.

Without further ado:

Ingredients
1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes
6 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 larage eggplant (1 pound), cut into 1-inch pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large yellow onions (1 pound total), diced large
1 head garlic, cloves smashed and peeled
2 bell peppers (any color) [I used yellow because the color really popped with the eggplant and zucchini], seeded and diced large
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram or oregano leaves
2 to 3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar.

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Place tomatoes and juices on a rimmed baking sheet and use your hands to break tomatoes into 3/4-inch pieces. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and bake until thickened, 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a colander, toss eggplant with 1.5 teaspoons salt. Let sit 20 minutes, then squeeze out excess liquid. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat 4 tablespoons oil over meidum. Add oinion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until onions and garlic are soft, 5 minutes. Add peppers and cook, stirring, until crisp-tender, 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, bay leaf, and marjoram (oregano) to pot. Cook stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover, and cook at a gentle simmer until vegetables are tender but not mushy, 15 minutes. Season to taste with vinegar, salt, and pepper.

This made 11 3/4-cup servings or about 3 quarts. Each serving has 85 calories, 5.5 grams of fat, and 2.5 grams of fiber...I guess now that I'm doing the weight watcher's thing, I need to document these other statistics.