Baked Ratatouille

My friend of 36 years is an amazing cook. She was the one who taught me to have a printed timing schedule in the kitchen when you entertain. To have perfection when when you are hosting, cooking and serving you need to know to the minute cooking and serving times. I also watched her flip a freshly baked chapiti into the garbage because it did not meet her standards. Only my well developed social graces - an estrogen laden frontal lobe - kept me from diving after it. I did shed a tear; bread in any form does that to me.

When she invited me for lunch, she said she felt like ratatouille. She was experiencing vegetable< hunger. It was September and there were all those fresh vegetables to be used and of course savoured. However, she confessed that the recipe called for one can of plum tomatoes and it was better to use the canned tomatoes than the fresh ones.v
If you are the kind of person to change recipes like I am or if you only work with what is in your pantry, do not omit the olives because they add a great deal of flavour.

The original recipe was published by Carroll Allen in Recipes Only Cookbook (1989). The recipe below has less salt and oil than the original one. Many cook books have recipes for ratatouille because it is a common vegetable stew created originally in the south of France.

Ingredients

1 egg plant
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of chopped garlic
2 diced large onions
2 sliced zucchinis
2 sliced sweet red peppers
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup kalamata olives


For the topping
1 cup grated swiss cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

For the Bottom
3 tbsp dry bread crumbs

Trim the egg plant, cut into slices, sprinkle with salt and place in a colander. Drain after 15 minutes. Brush with oil and broil each side for 5 minutes. When cool, slice into strips.

Add oil to pan, fry garlic and onions till soft. Add zucchinis and red peppers. Cook till soft. Add tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, egg plant and cook 15 minutes on medium heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Stir in parsley and olives.

Sprinkle the bread crumbs on the bottom of a greased 12 by 18 inch casserole. Gently pour in the vegetables. Top with the two cheeses. Bake 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve with rice and a crusty brown bread.

I asked for seconds because it tasted like the beginning of autumn but it was the colours on my plate that were irresistible - all the reds with the slash of purple eggplant, beige spots of cheese and a hint of green. It is a food palette.