CATHERINE TIDD
About the Recipe
I. LOVE. This. Recipe.
I found it on Pinterest and I've made this for dinner parties before so when I decided to start cooking for one, this had to be on my list.
First, this sauce does make more than one serving. I thought about cutting it down to one serving, but you're going to thank me for not doing that. As simple as this sauce is, it is a game changer and if you want to, you can use this for other recipes. But if you want to just freeze individual servings for upcoming ratatouille recipes you can do that, too. Then your dish is already there!
Also, in typical ratatouille recipes there is eggplant (which I love). For this single serving dish I stuck with zucchini and squash, but you can change that up if you'd rather.
This is the perfect single serve dish because I find that it doesn't reheat well - it's best served the night you cook it. Otherwise the veggies start getting a little soggy in the fridge.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
Sauce (This will make 3 servings)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence (French seasoning)
1 red bell pepper
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Vegetables
2 roma tomatoes
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
1 small potato
salt and pepper
Preparation
Make the sauce:
Chop onion and pepper, cut garlic very finely.
Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and Herbes de Provence and cook for 1 minute.
Add pepper and cook occasionally stirring for 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and cook sauce for 10-15 minutes on low/medium heat for 10-15 minutes stirring occasionally. Take off heat and stir in balsamic vinegar.
Puree the sauce with a blender or immersion blender. (NOTE: I don't mind that this is a little chunky so if you just slightly blend it or skip this step that's okay, too.)
Assemble the vegetables:
While the sauce is cooking, peel the tomatoes and potato. Cut the zucchini, squash and tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick. Cut potatoes as thin as possible.
Spoon sauce into baking dish, even out its surface. Arrange the vegetables in the baking dish in an alternating layered pattern from the outer edge to the inside until the entire baking dish is filled.
Sprinkle salt, pepper, and some more Herbes de Provence over the vegetables. Pour a small amount of olive oil over them.
Bake for 45 minutes (uncovered) until the sauce is bubbly and the vegetables are browned (if the vegetables are not browned you can turn on the fan or move the baking dish under the most upper rack / under the broiler and bake briefly until the edges of the vegetables are browned).
Sprinkle grated cheese over the vegetables and bake under the broiler (or turn on the fan) for about 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly golden.
What I'm Reading
A sudden departure. A story decades in the making.
The chaotic but happy equilibrium of the Nightingale family is thrown into disarray when Cecily--whose children can't remember her ever being remotely spontaneous--disappears to a Greek island with no warning or explanation.
Her reasons for doing something so out of character are a total mystery to her three daughters, high-powered executive Felicity, unfulfilled GP Julia and organised mother-of-five Lily. What connection could she possibly have with Kefalonia?
But Cecily has gone to continue a story she thought ended decades ago--one that could have a huge impact on her family. And when she returns, she'll have to tell them the truth.
Will Cecily be able to hold her family together once she reveals her big secret? And might she discover that she's not the only one with a story to tell?