Getting Fancy with the Garden Goods aka Ratatouille Recipe

Want to impress with your garden bounty - this is sure to do the trick. I love the movie Ratatouille© and this recipe in in honor of that. If your garden has been blessed you have zucchini in abundance about now and are starting to run out of recipes for it.  (Seriously how many have you given away to co-workers?!)  Here is one that can use not only your zucchini but your other ingredients as well.

For tomato/baking sauce:

• 2 Tbsps olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large bell peppers, any color, diced small (I like different colors.)
• 12 oz tomatoes, peeled, seeded, diced finely with juice reserved
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-3 sprigs of fresh thyme and parsley
• sea salt and ground pepper, to taste, about 1/4 teaspoon each
• Splash of red wine (optional)
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For the vegetables:

• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 medium yellow squash
• 2 medium zucchini
• 4 red onions
• 6 Roma (plum) tomatoes
• pinch sea salt, to taste
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For the vinaigrette:

• 2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil, or light olive oil
• 1 Tbsp aged balsamic vinegar
• chopped fresh herbs (I use parsley and dill OR parsley and basil)
• pinch of sea salt and pepper

Instructions

1. In a small jar, combine all of your vinaigrette ingredients. Shake really well until all the ingredients are well incorporated; set aside.
2. Slice bell peppers in half. Remove guts. Place face down on a foil lined tray and roast bell pepper at 450 F until skin loosens. About 15 min.
3. Once cool peel off skins and dice - set aside
4. Wash eggplant, squash, zucchini, and tomatoes thoroughly under cold running water to remove any dirt. Allow to thoroughly dry.
5. Using a sharp chef's knife, carefully slice. Try to cut as thinly and evenly as you can. Slice your onion into thin rings. Alternatively, you can use a mandolin. (I prefer this)
6. Very lightly, sprinkle your veggies with some sea salt.
7. To make the tomato/baking sauce, heat your oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add in diced onion and garlic, sauté until caramelized and slightly brown. 
8. Add a splash or a good red wine and stir (optional)
9. Add crushed tomatoes, sprig of thyme and parsley and bay leaf. Stir. Let this simmer until it has rendered some of the liquid off. 
10. Add diced bell peppers, stir.
11. Season with a pinch of sea salt and pepper. 
12. Cover and cook on low heat until the liquid is cooked off and sauce is thickened, about 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once your sauce has thickened a bit, discard the bay leaf.  pulse it on a food procesor until it is a lumpy sauce. Set aside
13. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F.
14. Start assembling your ratatouille; pour your tomato/baking sauce into an 8x10 rectangle oven-safe baking dish and smoothly cover the bottom of the dish in your prepared sauce, using a spatula.
15. Next place your sliced veggies in an alternating pattern, eggplant followed by yellow squash, zucchini, onions, and tomatoes vertically on top of the sauce. So think stacks of coins on the table waiting to be used. It makes it easier to work with later.
16. Arrange your veggies in a pattern, or any design you want in your pan. This is the fun part.
17. mix a little fresh garlic, olive oil, pinch of salt and thyme/parsley. drizzle over veggies
18. Loosely cover the dish with parchment paper or foil and bake at 300 degrees F. for about 2 hours.
19. Once finished baking, remove the paper/foil from the dish and switch to the broiler. Broil until the top is nicely golden brown.
20. Prior to serving drizzle evenly with your vinaigrette.
21. Enjoy!