Ratatouille

This is the second part to making a nice meal for your partner. Ratatouille is super visually appealing and it's a light side dish, so you won't feel super heavy afterward. I paired this with a roast turkey, which should have been a chicken, but Fredericton South was low on full sized chickens. I won't be sharing the turkey until much later because it's part of a cook book I am reviewing.

I got the ratatouille recipe from Tasty and based on other recipes there seemed to be many more out in the world that were the same. Also, don't be fooled, it doesn't matter if the serving dish is round or square. It's food and will taste the same either way.

Ingredients:

Veggies

- 2 eggplants

- 2 zucchini

- 7 tomatoes, either plum or on the vine, not the big ones.

Sauce

- Olive oil

- 1 onion, chopped into small pieces

- 2 bell pepper, chopped into small pieces

- 4 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 can of crushed tomatoes (the large can)

- Fresh basil

Herb topping

- 4 tablespoons of olive oil

- 3 tablespoons of Basil

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 3 tablespoons of Parsley

- 3 tablespoons of Thyme

How to make it (seriously, read it all before starting):

1) Make the sauce first. In a large saucepan, add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until translucent. Once they are translucent, add the crushed tomatoes and basil. Once it's all mixed together and heated, pour into your serving dish.

2) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the sauce is cooking, chop the veggies into rounds no bigger than like two-three toonies put together. It doesn't need to be super perfect, but aim for the veggies to be sliced thinly and equally.

3) Make the herb topping. Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until the olive oil covers everything.

4) In the serving dish, place the veggies in a pattern, pushing them into the sauce vertically (look at the pictures) I went for eggplant, zucchini, and tomato. You can place it in a circle, going outside in, or going in lines front to back, and back to front.

5) Place the herb topping on top of the veggies, spreading it out evenly, by drizzling it on with a spoon.

6) Place in the oven for 45-60 minutes.

Thanks for reading,

Samantha