Ratatouille

Traditionally, this is a French peasant dish. Realistically, this is a fancy side dish of baked squash. This variant is quite easy to make free from onion and garlic, for our special-diet friends. Pairs well with pork and chicken. Can be meal-prepped to bake later, but not frozen.


Required Ingredients


Optional Ingredients

Be careful adding the extras to this one, especially the eggplant. An additional or larger vessel may be needed; the base recipe is a tight fit in a 9-inch cast iron.




Process

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (if baking immediately)

  2. Slice into quarters lengthwise, and then chop into 1/4 inch bits, the zucchini, yellow squash, and optional eggplant.

  3. Roughly chop the tomatoes to a similar size to the squash.

  4. Seed and mince the bell pepper; the pieces of this one should be a bit smaller.

  5. Optionally, peel and mince the onion; smaller bits like the bell pepper.

  6. gently saute the peppers and optional onion in olive oil, in a cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe container)

  7. When the onion is cooked to translucent and the peppers are cooked but not burnt, add the rosemary, thyme, salt, and optional garlic.

  8. Saute that mix for one minute or slightly less; add the crushed tomatoes and combine well.

  9. Contain all of the vegetables into the cast iron skillet (or transfer all of it to midsized casserole dish if that turns out to be too small)

  10. Stir and toss all of it together until the vegetables are covered in sauce. Cover with foil or an oven-safe lid.

  11. If prepping for later, chill in the fridge for up to three days. Do not freeze. Remove top and mix again before baking if this step is taken.

  12. Bake at 350 F for 35 minutes or until squash is soft

  13. Optionally, top with provolone slices and return to oven for 5 minutes or so, until cheese is melted.

  14. Serve hot and immediately after baking.