Rata-tat-tat, Ratatouille!

How to make ratatouille, as well as any other fruit or veggie roast.

Courtesy of Mushy Pony.com

It can sound a little overwhelming if you’re not used to cooking. And as they mention in the movie, ratatouille is nothing but a “peasant dish”. But if you follow the right recipe (i.e. the one we’re about to give you) it’s almost certain that you’ll have Remy‘s seal of approval for this delicious Southern France dish. So let’s get started:

To buy:
6 small zucchinis
1 large eggplant
1 red pepper
4 large tomatoes
1 small red onion
bottle of capers and small head of garlic

Courtesy of Mushy Pony.com

Chop up the vegetables into bite sized pieces and place them in a roasting pan to form a single layer. (You may need two pans.) Next, add one head of garlic with the top sliced off and sprinkle everything with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast them all together at 400 degrees for one hour. After, stir everything gently and squeeze out the garlic from the top of the bulb. Continue the roasting for another half hour and scoop everything into a bowl with some capers. The roasted tomatoes give the moisture and liquid for the dish.

This will cost less than $10 to make and will serve at least 8 people as either a cold or hot side dish. Healthy and cheap.

Now, let’s try another vegetable roast:

To buy:
1 sweet potato (cubed)
1 bunch carrots (cut in half)
1 fennel (remove the stalks and cut into 8 wedges)
1 dozen new potatoes.

Toss these into a roasting pan like so:

Courtesy of Mushy Pony.com

Drizzle with olive oil, rub all over, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then cook at 400 degrees for 1 hour (like with the ratatouille). This dish can be served with a cooked chicken available at the supermarket. Add something green for colour (peas ,broccoli, etc). The total price is $20 and there is plenty for 4 or 5 people.

But why stop there? You can keep roasting even through ’til dessert.

Place some fruit of your choice on some foil in a pan (to prevent sticking) and sprinkle everything with brown sugar, honey or maple syrup. Try whatever is cheap. Pineapple slices, peach, plum or pear halves. Experiment with cinnamon and rum. Watch carefully when they are in the oven so they don’t burn. Serve with cream or ice cream. Fini.

And now, a clip from the movie Ratatouille – to get you in the mood.

XoXo
– The Cowgirls.