Shoulder Season: Oven-Baked Ratatouille
9 Oct
Ratatouille, to me, is the perfect dish for this very moment of the year: fall is here, but summer produce is still all in season at the market. So you can stock up on zucchini, tomatoes, and eggplant, and then actually turn on the oven and make the dish without fear of collapsing in a puddle of your own sweat.
This recipe comes from How to Cook Everything, of course, but you really don’t need one. Tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, onions, garlic, mushrooms, bell peppers, fresh herbs (I used thyme), all get cut up and thrown in a baking dish (you can also carefully layer them, but this is not my style). You can slice them, or just roughly cut them into 1-inch chunks, which I prefer. Drizzle on some olive oil, top with salt and pepper, and bake at 350 for an hour or longer, until it’s all started bubbling like crazy. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil. It’s good hot, warm, or at room temperature. Make sure to serve with polenta, pasta, or just some crusty bread to soak up the vegetable juices, which are the best part.
