Ratatouille

Recently I read a book called Lunch in Paris: A Love Story by Elizabeth Bard. It was basically about an American woman that marries a Frenchman and learns to live as the French do, with an American twist. It was a really good book and I think that my favorite part was her inclusion of French recipes she learned as she adjusted to French life. One of the recipes she included was Ratatouille. When something is described as "a walk through a friends garden" and as having the "taste of sunshine", it only makes sense to try it because it should instantly make you happier, right? Well, in this case, it was like sunshine in my kitchen...and my mouth.

Now, something to note, from what I've read about ratatouilli (ratatouillies? various ratatouille?) there are apparently 2 schools of thought: saute or layer and bake. This recipe was of the saute variety and it was really, really good! The author of the book Lunch in Paris: A Love Story recommends having enough to eat the second day because it is even better then. I made enough for a second helping for tomorrow's lunch or breakfast...I might throw it in an omlette...we'll see.

Here's some sunshine for you:

Ratatouille

1/4 cup olive oil
1 yellow onion, thickly sliced
1 baby eggplant (did you know they came as babies? THEY ARE SO FREAKIN CUTE!!!), quartered and cut into 2 inch by 1/2 inch pieces
1 zucchini, quartered and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2-1 whole red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
3-4 white mushrooms (not in the original recipe...but I love mushrooms...)
1 1/2 large tomatoes, chunked
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 leveled teaspoon of sugar
pinch of saffron (see note below)

1. Heat the olive oil, at medium heat, in a large frying pan (I actually used a large soup pot/spaghetti pot).
2. Add the onions to the pot and stir to coat them with oil. Let them cook for about 20-25 minutes so they are nice and tender and sweet.
3. Add the chunks of eggplant, coat with the oil and cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the bell pepper, toss together and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Add the zucchini and mushrooms, toss together and cook for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes and thyme and toss everything together. Let it all cook for about 10 minutes.
7. Add sugar and saffron to the sauce/liquid and dissolve them both. After they have dissolved, toss the whole lot together and coat the vegetables with the sauce. Cook for about 5-10 minutes and then set aside to cool. The flavors will soak into the vegetables more and be AWESOME.


Note: I only had saffron threads. I put them in the tiniest bit of oil and crushed them up some. Then when I added them to the sauce, they basically dissolved away into the liquid. If you have ground/powdered saffron, that might be easier to use. Seeing as how I stole this saffron from my mom and because saffron is beyond expensive, I did the best I could with what I had. It worked and my mom hasn't cooked since December (NO MOM! That totino's pizza doesn't count!!) so it wasn't really a big deal. :-P


Anyways, once this cools a bit, or even the next day when the flavors have intensified a bit, eat this up! It would go really well with some pasta or just fresh bread, if you want to serve it with something. I just had some bread with it and it was perfect!


I hope y'all enjoy! I'll have a tasty alfredo sauce recipe for you guys later...its just one of the wonderful things I've stolen from my momma at some point! Ha! My mom rocks!

Happy cooking, y'all!

Amy