Ratatouille
Ratatouille came into my mind as I was walking this morning–must have been the sun coming up.
A classic vegetable stew and the culinary face of summer! Looking at it makes you smile and forget–for a second– the state of the world.
Memories of holidays in Southern Europe drift into view.
Elizabeth David calls it Ratatouille de Nice–“a sunny place for shady people“–according to Somerset Maugham–in her definitive tome, French Provincial Cooking.
Haven’t made it for years–got distracted by spicier recipes in the repertoire for sweet pepper, aubergine and tomato.
Shakshuka for instance–which features in my latest cookbook, Mediterranean Cooking for Diabetics, p. 41—with a couple of eggs melting into the surface.
Ratatouille is gentler–relying on herbs for its flavor enhancers–rosemary, bay, thyme, marjoram.
We’ll have it for lunch, with pork chops and rosemary, cooked in a cosy nest of aubergine slices.
3 tblsp olive oil
1 medium onion–roughly chopped
3 sweet peppers–red and yellow makes a pretty picture
1 medium aubergine–halved and quartered lengthwise and then sliced into square inch pieces
3 tomatoes–skinned and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves–pulped
1 tsp coriander seeds–crushed
Sprigs of thyme, rosemary and bay–all added with the toms
1 medium courgette–prepared as the aubergine
Heat 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil in a medium pan and add the onions.
Cook over a gentle flame until they soften–about five minutes.
Add the chopped peppers, aubergine and garlic to the pan and turn everything over in the oil.
Cover the pan and cook on a low flame for about 35 minutes–until the vegetables soften nicely.
Add the tomatoes, courgette, the herbs and the coriander seeds and turn it all again–being careful to preserve the shape of the veggy pieces, remembering that it’s the face of summer!
Cook for a further half hour–uncovered.
A dollop of tapinade (black olive dip–recipe also in my cookbook), enhances the feeling of being in Europe du Sud.
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Can’t resist showing it again…
Filed under: other sides to this life
