Ratatouille is an elegant word that is used in France for an ordinary stew, decorated in an original way and very colorful thanks to various types of vegetables. However, despite its vegetarian orientation, it is very satisfying, incredibly juicy and tasty. Prepare a winter ratatouille with fresh and canned ingredients and a vegetable or cheese sauce.
Winter ratatouille recipe: preparing vegetables
Ingredients:
- eggplant;
- 2 tomatoes;
- 3 onions;
- canned zucchini (round slices);
- 0.5 tsp provencal herbs;
- 2 pinches of salt;
- vegetable oil.
To remove the bitterness from the eggplant, soak it sliced in salted water for 15 minutes. This is also necessary so that the purple vegetable slices do not lose their shape during prolonged stewing and remain dense.
Wash all vegetables and place them on a towel to dry. Cut the eggplant, tomatoes and peeled onions into thin, cross-cut circles. Drain the canned zucchini. Lubricate a round heatproof dish with vegetable oil. Place vegetables in it in a "snail" circle, alternating between different types to make a colorful assortment. Sprinkle them with dried herbs and salt.
Winter ratatouille recipe: two types of sauce
Choose between the two sauces on offer, diet tomato or richer cheese.
Ingredients:
For sauce # 1:
- 100 g of tomato paste;
- 5 sweet canned or frozen bell peppers;
- 2 onions;
- 2 tbsp. dry red wine and vegetable oil;
- 3 sprigs of dill or parsley;
- 1/3 tsp each thyme, granulated garlic and ground black;
- 0.5 tsp Sahara;
- 1 tsp without a slide of salt;
For sauce # 2:
- 50 g butter;
- 1 tbsp. flour;
- 80 g of processed cheese;
- 1 tbsp. milk;
- 50 g of hard unsweetened cheese.
Sauce No. 1. Strain the canned or frozen peppers and cut them into small cubes. Peel and finely chop the onions. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and sauté the onions in it for 3 minutes. Add peppers there, and after 2-3 minutes - salt, sugar, spices, chopped herbs and wine, reduce heat to low and cook frying for another 5 minutes. Remove it from the stove, cool and rub in a blender with tomato paste.
Sauce No. 2. Grate hard cheese. Heat butter in a saucepan and add flour. Separately melt the processed cheese in hot milk, pour it in a thin stream into the base of the sauce and stir the mixture thoroughly until it acquires a uniform consistency. Then add the remaining cheese and simmer the gravy for 10 minutes over medium heat.
Winter ratatouille: cooking
The ratatouille sauce should soak the slices of vegetables well and reach the very bottom. If necessary, lift the "snail" with a spatula or fork.
Preheat oven to 160oC. Top prepared vegetables with one of the sauces. Cover the dish with a sheet of foil, tightly wrapping its edges over the sides of the dishes. Bake winter ratatouille for 80 minutes. Divide it into portions and serve as a separate dish or as a side dish for meat.
