Recipes: Ratatouille!

When visiting one of my girlfriends in Switzerland last month, I had the treat of having authentic homemade ratatouille in Geneva, made by a Parisian dude. It. Was. Amazing. He also made some sort of chicken, fig and date compote as a side and everything was delicious. I had never actually had ratatouille before but am so glad I got to experience it in a traditional way before attempting it myself. Pair this with some nice red wine, and definitely serve while watching this.

Recipe after the jump!

28 oz canned whole, peeled tomatoes

1 large or 2 small eggplants

2 large yellow onions

6 cloves garlic

2 large zucchini

2 bell peppers (any color)

1 Tbsp fresh marjoram 

2 fresh bay leaves

2-3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 cup gemelli pasta

olive oil

salt & pepper

cumin

cinnamon

nutmeg

Serves 4-6.

~Preheat oven to 350F. 

~ Pour entire can of tomatoes into a roasting pan (or any oven-proof dish with raised sides). Break up tomatoes by hand into about 1" pieces, drizzle with 2-3 Tbsp olive oil and bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring and rotating pan every 10 minutes.

~ While tomatoes roast: wash eggplant and cut into 1" pieces. Toss chopped eggplant with 2-3 tsp salt in a colander and let sit for 20 minutes. The salt will help to draw out the liquid from the eggplant. 

After, squeeze out excess water with paper towels. 

~ Heat 4-5 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Chop onion into large slices, add onion to pot and cook for about 5 minutes (until the onions begin to turn translucent). 

~Mince and add garlic to onions. Chop bell peppers into 1" chunks and add to pot; cook for about 4 minutes. 

~Chop zucchini into 1" chunks, and add to pot along with roasted tomatoes, eggplant, bay leaves, and freshly chopped marjoram. (Sidenote: Marjoram smells SO good. Get a few good whiffs.) Bring the mixture to a simmer, bring head to medium-low and cook for about 15 minutes partially-covered with lid. The key is to not overcook or you'll be stuck with mushy vegetables, yuck.

~While ratatouille is finishing, cook pasta according to package directions, set aside in colander for serving. I like to lightly toss the pasta in about 1 tsp of olive oil as well.

~Season ratatouille to your liking with red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. I threw in cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg to make things a little warmer. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve hot over warm gemelli noodles and freshly shredded parmesan. Et voilà!