Anyway, I made Ratatouille about 2 weeks ago, and it was pretty awesome. The recipe is from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein. I really like this cookbook because it offers me recipes from a region I know little about in terms of cuisine. Well, I know there are lemons and olives.... Anyway, it was really good, and this recipe had beans in it too? I think that's a little out of the ordinary for Ratatouille. This recipe is chock full of vegetables, I hope you enjoy it.
1 lb. Eggplant
1 lb. Onion
1 medium Green Bell Pepper
1 medium Red Bell Pepper
2 medium Zucchini
1 1/2 lb Tomato
2 cans of 16 oz. white beans (I used Cannellini)
and some pitted Black Olives for garnish, if you like them
4 Garlic cloves
4 tbsp (thereabouts) Olive Oil
1/4 cup dry White Wine
3/4 cup Vegetable Broth
1 tbsp Tomato Paste (I usually just use Ketchup, basically the same thing)
1/2 tsp dried Thyme
1/2 tsp dried Oregano
1/4 tsp of whole, crushed Coriander seeds (I just used a heaping 1/4 tsp of Coriander)
1 large Bay Leaf
1/4 tsp of whole, crushed Coriander seeds (I just used a heaping 1/4 tsp of Coriander)
1 large Bay Leaf
salt and pepper to taste
There is the stuff you will be needing, split into first and second half of use. Also, before you begin - it is better to NOT use a non-stick pan. If you only have non-stick pans, that's fine, but if you have a pan that's not non-stick, that's big, use it.
First, cube the Eggplant into about 1 in. cubes. Put the cubes in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Be sure to actually cut 1 in. cubes or slightly larger. I made a mistake and made them too small, then they were really small when they were cooked. Chop the onions, cut the Peppers into about 1 in. cubes, finely chop the Garlic, and 1 in. cubes for the Zucchini as well. The Tomatoes need a little more care. They needed to be peeled, seeded, and chopped. I would not do the whole dropping the Tomatoes in boiling water. I have read that makes them lose flavor. I turned on my gas burner to high, and rotated the Tomato on a fork for about 20-30 seconds. Do not let them burn, just let them get really hot. This will help bring out more flavor and make them easy to peel. Go ahead and seed them (just squeeze the seeds out) and then chop them. Just drain and rinse the Cannellini.
Okay now you've got all those veggies ready, go ahead and on medium, heat 3 tbps of Olive Oil in a large, deep-sided skillet and start sauteeing those onions. After about 3 minutes add the Peppers and Garlic. Stir this mix often because it will burn. After about 2 minutes or so, add the Eggplant bits. Another 2 minutes or so later add a little more oil (if it seems like it's all gone) and add the Zucchini cubes. This will be good for the next step in about 5 minutes.
Add the White Wine and the Vegetable Broth when the veggie mix is cooked. While bringing this to a boil, try and loosen up any brown bits by tossing a little, or scraping with a spatula. Obviously, do not scrape if it's non-stick. Once it's boiling, reduce to medium-high heat, and add the Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, Thyme, Oregano, Coriander, and Bay Leaf. If you happen to have fresh herbs, just triple the dried amount. Cover this, and at a gentle simmer, cook this for 20 minutes. Uncover, add the beans, cook this an additional 10-15 minutes.
Now you're ready to eat. Not including prep time, this dish take about 45 minutes. Not bad for a decent amount of food that tastes delicious. I really enjoyed this dish despite the fact that I rarely use Eggplant. I am trying to get past that, but Eggplant has very little nutritional value. I don't really have anything bad to say about this. It has everything I love.
Well, hopefully someone else will enjoy making this. Oh, hopefully pictures will come soon.
