Ratatouille & Pissaladière

Ratatouille

 

I made this ratatouille for my South of France Wine Tasting.  Ratatouille is one of those fun, hodge podge recipes - everyone has one and they are all slightly different.  The basic point is to make a vegetable stew of sorts out of the summer's bounty.  The requisite vegetables are eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes, bell peppers and onions, but I'm sure there are some very good recipes that have alternate lists.  Everything should taste garden fresh, but should also meld together, into one homey, satisfying dish. 

 

2 large eggplants, 1-inch cubes

4-5 zucchini, 1-inch cubes

2 onions, diced

2 bell peppers, diced

2 pints cherry tomatoes, each cut in half

4 cloves of garlic, skin removed

fresh thyme and rosemary sprigs (3-4 each)

2 bay leaves

fresh basil to taste, chiffonaded

olive oil

splash of red wine vinegar

sat and pepper to taste

 

1.    Heat an oven to 400 degrees.  On a baking sheet, toss tomato halves with olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper.  Roast the tomatoes until they begin to look a bit shriveled and concentrated, about 20 to 25 minutes. 

2.    Meanwhile, In a large dutch oven, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Once at the desired temperature, add the onions and the garlic cloves and sauté for 5-6 minutes, until they begin to turn translucent.  Remember to add salt and pepper to each ingredient as you add it to the sauté mixture. 

3.    Add the bell peppers, and continue to sauté the mixture for 5 more minutes, before adding the eggplants and sautéing for another 5 minutes.  Finally, add the zucchini and sauté for another 5 minutes.  At this time, remove the tomatoes from the oven and add them to the sauté mixture, along with the thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.  Lower the heat and cover, stirring occasionally for 35 minutes. 

4.  After 35 minutes, the vegetables should still be identifiable, but they should have begun to melt into each other.  Add the red wine vinegar and taste to check whether it needs salt or pepper.  Cook, uncovered for another 5 minutes. 

5.    Remove from heat, stir in the basil, and serve!

 

Pissaladière

 

I decided to attempt this for my South of France Wine Tasting.  Disclaimer - I certainly took some shortcuts (store-bought pizza dough) and omitted some rather classic ingredients (anchovies).  I still feel that the spirit of this French pizza remains the same.  The only hard part is finding the time to caramelize the onions....

 

3-4 large onions, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves

several fresh thyme sprigs

1/2 cup chopped olives, any variety will do (just no pits)

olive oil

pizza dough

salt and pepper to taste

 

1.    In a sauté pan, heat up 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-low heat.  Add the onions, the thyme sprigs and the garlic, as well as salt and pepper, and slowly brown them.  This will take around 40 minutes (no joke, maybe even longer depending on pan size and onion size).  Once nicely caramelized, remove from heat and put to the side (this can be refrigerated overnight).  Be sure to mash up the garlic, if still recognizable. 

2.    In the meantime, heat your oven to 450 degrees with a pizza stone placed in the middle of the oven, if available (or to the temperature setting recommended by your pizza dough package).  Roll out pizza dough and place on either a baking sheet covered in cornmeal or, if working with a pizza stone, on a pizza peal covered in cornmeal.  The traditional shape is a long rectangle, but feel free to experiment.  Liberally brush the top of the pizza dough with olive oil.  Spread out a thin layer of the onions on the dough, followed by an artful arrangement of the olives.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, as desired, and douse one last time with olive oil, as desired. 

3.    Bake the pissaladière until nicely crisped and golden, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven, slice and serve!