Saturday, June 28, 2008

A Medley Of Flavours In Ratatouille.


Ratatouille is a name for a humble vegetable stew which originated from Southern France. It used to be called a poor man's dish as it only contains very simple vegetables that could be easily obtained or planted by the people of the mediterranean region. The vegetables like carrots, onions, peppers, aubergines, tomatoes, and cucumbers, are cut up into pieces and stewed with mixed herbs to bring out a flavourful dish.

Recently I cook a pot of ratatouille to be eaten as an accompaniment to rice and a salmon dish. It can also be tossed with pasta for a quick healthy meal. So for those who are keen on cooking this poor man's food packed with vitamins, here is a recipe to share.........

Ingredients:

2 red peppers or any colour, deseeded and quartered - skinned
2 tbsp vegetable stock
1 onion - thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves -crushed
2 aubergines (eggplant)- diced
2 cucumbers or zucchini - sliced
400 g canned chopped or stewed tomatoes
a few sprigs of thymes,majoram or oregano-or dry mixed herbs
a dash of ground black pepper
2 tsp olive oil

Method:

To skin red peppers, place pepper under a hot grill and grill skin side up, til the skin begins to char. Pop into plastic bag and leave to cool slightly then remove the skin and diced.

Heat olive oil in pan and gently cook the onions and garlic until translucent. Add aubergines and zucchini and continue to cook for 3 mins. Mix in red peppers and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for another minute. Add tomatoes and snip in fresh herbs. Season with a dash of freshly ground pepper and vegetables stock. Covered and simmer for about 20 to 30 mins til the vegetables are soft and tender.

12 comments:

Little Corner of Mine said...

Ratatouille would be a dish that my husband won't eat. He doesn't like cook cucumber and eggplant and only likes his bell pepper cook in certain way and he dislikes tomato stew. Hard to please hor?

Beachlover said...

whenever I blog hopping I see Ratatouille !!like LCOM said my hubby don't eat greens expect salad..so if I cook I have to cook for myself!

Lin said...

It's not easy to please my hubby's taste buds. I'm not a gr8 cook by any measure, but I know he'll still live if he had to eat my own cooking.

Lee said...

Hi SJ, anymore leftovers? I come over? Ha ha. Lee.

Johnny Ong said...

wondering what's the taste is like

Sweet Jasmine said...

little corner of mine - yeah, my boys do not really like cooked veges except when it is make into salads.

Sweet Jasmine said...

beachlover - this is my first time cooking ratatouille and it is eaten up with no complain...

Sweet Jasmine said...

lena t - my family of boys also dislike to eat veges...and most of the time I am the one to finish it up...

You are doing okay if your family gets to eat some of yr homecook food..

Sweet Jasmine said...

u.lee - Hi, lee...I assume you do not eat this but only curry fish head...

Sweet Jasmine said...

johnny - it taste good if you like veges as all the flavours are in it like in a normal stew dish..

GracieMei said...

Hi Sweet Jasmine,

Thanks for the recipe...I have tried your bento box as well...taste superb :). I am a young working adult who are learning to cook, your recipes are really helpful. Kudos :)
I like your blog very much.
Do drop by mine and give a tip or two to improve it. Happy blogging to you!

eastcoastlife said...

What a colourful dish! :)