RATATOUILLE REDO

Ratatouille Redo image

I love a good vegetable casserole and ratatouille is one of those wonderful concoctions that gives all the freshness of summer no matter what time of year it is. I updated some techniques by smoothing out the vegetables into a delicious sauce that's spread over layers and not in a more traditional stew mixture. Delicious, healthy, and vegetarian for your meatless days, it doesn't get much better than this!

Provided by Glenda Purvis @photolady63

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

BODY
2 chinese or japanese eggplants
2 medium zucchinis
SAUCE
2 bell peppers
1 anaheim pepper
1 big onion
3 teaspoon(s) minced garlic
28 - 30 ounce(s) of fresh tomatoes
1 teaspoon(s) herbes de provence
1 teaspoon(s) salt
pepper

Steps:

Slice eggplant into 1/4" rounds, place in a bowl or baking dish, and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for about 30 minutes.
Fill a medium saucepan about halfway full of water and heat until it's almost boiling. Place the tomatoes in the hot water and leave until the skin starts peeling, or 3 minutes. Remove from hot water and set aside to let them cool.
Chop bell peppers, Anaheim pepper, onions, and garlic. Keep the garlic separate, as it will be added to the mix later.
Pour 2 - 3 tablespoons of oil in a 12" saute pan and heat until oil is shimmering. Add the peppers and onion at this time. Cook on medium-high heat, stirring frequently until onions start becoming transparent.
Add garlic.
At this time, transfer the veggies to a large saucepan to accommodate the tomatoes.
By now the tomatoes should be cool to the touch. Peel them with your fingers, chop them up then add to the veggie mix, juice and all.
Let simmer on low-medium heat for 15 minutes. Check your salt at this time, and add more if needed.
While the veggies are simmering, drain the now sweaty eggplant slices and place them on paper toweling for them to dry.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Slice the zucchini into 1/4" rounds.
Using an emulsifier or blender, mix the veggies, in shifts, until the texture is smoothed out to your liking.
Spoon 1 - 1 1/2 cups of the sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 9 casserole or baking dish. Layer eggplant and zucchini slices any way you want. I went with the circular look and ended up being a little short on the second layer - oh, well! Due to the wide variance of vegetable sizes, this may or may not be an issue for you.
Pour another 1 - 1 1/2 cups of sauce on first layer, and repeat the layering process. Add any leftover sauce on the top, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper.
Cover with a tight-fitting lid or foil and place in your now hot oven for 30 minutes, then remove cover and let cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve with mashed potatoes or rice for a heavenly vegetarian meal, or eat it all by itself. Enjoy!