Servings: 4 / Total Time: 45 minutes / Author: The Migoni Kitchen

Summer is here in Texas and while we are not so excited about the heat, we are loving the summer veggies and fruits right now. Loads of summer squash, tomatoes, melons, and stone fruits – it’s our favorite time of year for produce! Our CSA box this week featured beautiful zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplants, so immediately the idea to make a ratatouille came to mind. Ratatouille is a French provencal vegetable stew typically made with zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and peppers. It’s a humble dish that’s often prepared as a side but when using great quality produce can truly shine as the main dish.

Ingredients:

Ratatouille Ingredients:

• 1 Medium Eggplant, sliced into thin rounds
• 3 Vine-Ripened Tomatoes, sliced thin
• 1 Medium Zucchini, sliced thin
• 1 Large Russet Potato, peeled and sliced thin
• Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper
• 12 ounces Grapeseed Oil and Canola Oil

Tomato Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• ½ of 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 14.5 ounce can of crushed tomato
• 5 sprigs thyme
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ¼ teaspoon brown sugar

Ratatouille gorgeousness. Photo by the Migoni Kitchen. 

Instructions:

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in dutch oven over medium heat.

Next, add diced onion and garlic into the dutch oven and sauté for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and onions are slightly translucent.

Add in crushed tomato, herbs, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and sugar. Stir until sauce begins to simmer then lower temperature to low heat and allow to cook until slightly reduced.

While the sauce is cooking, in a frying pan, heat the canola oil to a medium-high temperature. Once the oil is hot, cook the sliced eggplant in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan.

Remove the eggplant slices as soon as they begin to brown, placing them on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat this step with the potato slices.

Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Next, arrange the sliced vegetables into the bottom of the pot - alternate between the potato, zucchini, squash, eggplant, and tomato slices. Arrange into spiral shape.

Cover and place the dutch oven back on the burner on medium to low heat for about 20 minutes. Then remove remove lid and allow the vegetables to continue simmering for another

20 minutes while the excess water evaporates.

Serve with rice or crusty French bread.