Menu Monday: Ratatouille!

Confession:  I've never seen the movie Ratatouille.

I was really tempted to back when there was a Ratatouille tie-in with Jon & Kate Plus Eight.  (I was obsessed with those multiples back in the day...2008.)

Anyhoo, this recipe has been floating around the Internet lately, so I thought I would give it a whirl.  Since I don't have an oval platter, I used a Pyrex dish.  It didn't turn out quite as lovely as the original.  But it was darn cute.

I figured it would allow me the opportunity to try eggplant in a different way, and maybe, just maybe, I would like it.

I didn't really like it, but I did like the ratatouille.  Make sense?  The squash and zucchini and red pepper and tomato and onion was yumm-o.  :)

RATATOUILLE

1/2 purple onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, slivered

1+ cup tomato puree 

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 skinny eggplant

1 summer squash

1 zucchini

1 skinny red bell pepper

fresh thyme

salt and pepper to taste

-Preheat over to 375.

-Pour tomato puree into 13x10 Pyrex dish.  Add onion and garlic.  Stir in seasonings and 1 Tbsp of olive oil.

-Wash veggies and trim off the ends.  Slice into very thin slices.

-Layer veggies atop tomato puree in a swirl towards the center.  (I could have ton a bit better at this.)  There may be some veggies left over, and you may have to use two slices of the same veggie if they are small (like my zucchini) or cut down the slices if they are too big (like my eggplant).

-Drizzle veggies with remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil and sprinkle thyme across the dish.

-Cut a piece of parchment to cover the dish, so that the paper fits inside.

-Bake 40 to 55 minutes until the veggies are cookie and the tomato puree is bubbling up.

[serves 4]

Next time, I'm leaving the eggplant out!

Have you ever had ratatouille before?  Have you seen the movie?

Let me know what you think of this if you try it!