When life gives you courgettes - make ratatouille

 

When I came home from holiday, I found two bad boys waiting for me in the fridge. And by that I mean two humongous courgettes. What else is a girl to do than make ratatouille? Also, eating a bit lighter is a great idea after my one week of all inclusive all day buffet holiday... We had hardly finished breakfast (you know, just a bit of scrambled eggs and bacon, maybe a fried egg as well, followed by a round of croissants and finished off with some donuts, slices of pineapple and watermelon) when it was lunchtime (although I admit we didn't make it to lunch every day as we were still digesting breakfast). And then came dinnertime with a full buffet of salads, cold cut meats, grilled fish and meats with all sorts of sides you could imagine, maybe a bit of pizza on the side, then the light round of cheese and crackers followed by dessert of fruits and small cakes and maybe to finish, you know just to cool off a bit, some chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles). All this to keep us fuelled for a busy day of lying on the beach, reading a book or maybe even walking along the beach with our toes in the wet sand. But that is all over now. So hence the need for a bit of ratatouille. And what could be better now that the garden is starting to produce some ratatouille ingredients. Looking at the number of courgette plants, I better start coming up with some more recipes soon.

Apparently the secret to a good ratatouille (according to Delia, and who am I to argue) is that your veggies need to be chopped into large enough chunks so they don't turn into mush when cooking, but retain their shape. I loosely used Delia's ratatouille recipe as a rough guide, although I did make some alterations, and used whatever veggies I happened to have around. This makes quite a big batch, so we had some for dinner, I popped a bit in the freezer and took some with me to work for lunch.

InvisiblePinkRatatouille (serves 4-6):
1 large courgette
2 medium aubergines
13 medium tomatoes (because that's what I happened to have in the fridge)
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
fresh thyme and basil
3 tbsp tomato puree

The howto:
Roughly cut your courgette and aubergines into large chunks, place into a colander, sprinkle generously with salt, and mix. Weigh them down with a few plates or something else appropriate and leave for an hour or two to drain. This will remove the bitter taste from the aubergines, and also remove liquid to keep the ratatouille from becoming soggy. In the meanwhile, peel the skins of the tomatoes. This is easiest if you score a little cross on the bottom of the tomato with a sharp knife, then dip the tomato in cooking water for about 30 seconds or so, and then submerge in ice cold water. You can then easily peel off the skin. Remove the tomato seeds, and cut the tomato flesh into rough chunks (I cut them in half, removed the seeds and left them that size). Also, roughly chop your onions into chunks, as well as the peppers. Finely chop the garlic.

When the courgettes and aubergines have drained, rinse off the salt in cold water, and pat them dry with a clean towel or kitchen roll. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan to medium heat and add the onions. Cook the onion until starting to soften. Then add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute or so. Add the courgettes and aubergines along with chopped thyme and basil (I just eyeballed it, but I think I used about 2 tbsp of fresh finely chopped basil ann 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves) with a bit of salt and pepper. Let cook for about 10 minutes. Add the red peppers and tomatoes, add the tomato puree, give it a good stir and let cook for another 10-15 minutes. The veggies should not be mushy, but keep their colour and shape, and the cooking time will depend on the size of your veggie chunks. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. I rarely use salt in my food, but here I think it helps bring out the flavour of the veg. Serve as a side with meat, or as a veggie main on it's own.

The verdict:
I know ratatouille purists will say you shouldn't put tomato puree in it, and I'm not sure if these are the correct proportions of ingredients. But it turned out really nice, and it was even better the next day. I used quite a bit of thyme, so if you are not a huge fan, just reduce the amount a bit. I know some ratatouille recipes add sugar, but I don't think it was needed. This is such a simple, healthy and beautifully colourful food, and you can adjust it to include/exclude whichever veggies you like/have in the garden.

Aubergenius

For a long time I thought I didn't like aubergines. I thought they were bitter, soggy and a bit horrible really. Sure, when in Italy (or an Italian restaurant), I enjoyed the occasional oven baked aubergine with loads of Parmesan or Mozzarella on top (even cardboard would taste great if smothered in Parmesan or Mozzarella), but I never used any it in my kitchen. I guess it all stems back years and years to one unfortunate incident with some ratatouille-type thingy, which turned out horrible. However, I switched to a low carb nutrition plan about a year ago, and had to find a substitute for one of my food loves, lasagna. The closest you get without all those nasty carbs (and all that cheese and milk) is moussaka. Based on my few attempts of cooking with aubergines, I was expecting something barely edible and borderline disgusting, wet and soggy. However, it turned out not only tolerable, but even delicious. After finding the perfect moussaka recipe, I realised I actually really enjoy aubergines. So I have started to use them when I roast veg, and also to replace another of my carb food craving, pizza. Surprisingly, the combination of tomato puree, ketchup and oregano creates a very pizza-esque taste, especially if you treat yourself and add some cheese on top. Not saying this beats the real thing, and in a perfect world I would not have to stick to substitutes. However, until someone comes up with calorie free pizza, this is what I'm stuck with, and rather happily stuck to be honest. I also thought I would chuck in a third recipe I stumbled upon in Voisilmäpeliä, one of my favourite food blogs. It's almost the same as the pizza, but I guess it's different enough to warrant it's own recipe.


Moussaka (serves 6):
4 big aubergines
2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil (I love to use my garlic or lemon infused rapeseed oil)
juice from 1 lemon
1 onion
2 carrots
4-5 cloves of garlic
2tbsp tomato puree
1tsp ground cinnamon
a bunch of fresh oregano, chopped (can be substituted with 1tbsp dried oregano)
600g minced lamb (or beef or turkey if you want make it a bit healthier)
1 veggie stock cube
black pepper, salt
big bunch of flat leaf parsley
400g can of chopped tomatoes 


2 eggs
200g full fat Greek style yoghurt
100g feta cheese

Finely chop carrots, onions and garlic. Sautee in 1/2 tbsp oil for a few minutes until onions turn translucent. Add the minced meat, cinnamon, oregano, black pepper and tomato puree and sautee for another few minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, the stock cube and about half of the parsley. Leave to cook slowly for at least 40 minutes stirring every now and then. If it turns very thick, add some more water. While the meat is cooking, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Slice the aubergines into about 1cm thick slices lengthwise. Mix the remaining 1.5 tbsp oil and the juice from the lemon, and brush onto the slices. Season with salt and pepper, and bake in one layer for about 15 minutes. You need to do this in a few batches, or on several baking trays if you have a fan oven. Let cool. When meat has cooked, add in the rest of the parsley. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and start with a layer of aubergine slices. Add the meat and top with another layer of aubergines. Mix the eggs and yoghurt, and spread on the aubergines. Crumble feta (or other cheese of choice) on top. Bake for about 45 minutes in 200 degrees, cover with foil if aubergines turn too dark (which, as you see from the picture below, I couldn't be bothered to do).

Aubergine pizzas (serves 1-2):
1 aubergine
1tbsp oil
salt, pepper
tomato puree (or ketchup if you don't mind the sugar and other nasty additives)
basil and oregano (fresh and chopped or dried)
tuna and tomatoes, or whichever other pizza filling you fancy (roast peppers, salami and chilli, ham and pineapple, let the world be your oyster or prawn...)
feta (or some other cheese, I would happily use cheddar, blue cheese, maybe brie)


Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Slice the aubergine lengthwise into about 1cm slices. Drizzle some oil (I like to use a silicone brush to brush a very thin layer of oil on the slices) and lightly season with salt and pepper. Grill in the oven for about 10 minutes. Add tomato puree, herbs and pizza topping of choice and finish off with cheese on top. Bake in oven for another 15 minutes or so, until the cheese is golden. Serve with a fresh salad.

Sad detox pizzas with no cheese.

Happier cheat pizzas with tuna, tomato and feta.

Aubergine steaks (serves 1-2):
1 aubergine
oil
salt, pepper
1 ball of mozzarella
tomatoes
fresh basil


Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. Slice the aubergine into round discs about 1cm thick. Drizzle some oil, season with salt and pepper and grill in oven for about 10 minutes. Add a slice of mozzarella, some basil leaves and a slice or two of tomato on half of the aubergine discs, put the other half on top to make stacks, and top off with a bit of mozzarella. Bake for about 15 minutes or so, until cheese turns golden. Serve with a fresh salad, or as sides for a main meal.

The verdict:
As I wrote above, I love the moussaka. Sure, it's a bit of work, but it's definitively worth it. And there is no doubt about it, lamb mince is much better than beef. For taste at least, not necessarily for nutritional profile. 


The mini pizzas are great for a pizza craving, it is surprising how little you pay attention to the fact that the crust is just aubergine. Like I said before, the combination of tomato puree, ketchup and oregano (and cheeeeese) makes it surprisingly pizza-esque. And it's convenient if you cook for many people, everyone can have their favourite topping on theirs. No more debates about garlic vs. no garlic, tuna vs pepperoni or cheddar vs. mozzarella.