Ratatouille
Our girl Aubrey, AKA our Recipe Developer AKA your Personal Chef, is out on a much deserved vacation this week! So we thought it was the perfect opportunity to feature one of our customers' delicious creations using their Perfectly Imperfect Produce! We LOVE seeing all your posts every week showing us how you turn our "ugly" food into beautiful meals.
Thanks to each of you who submitted your favorite original recipes this week using your Perfectly Imperfect Produce and tagged us #guestrecipedeveloper! It was hard to chose which one to feature here on our blog, but we decided to go with this gorgeous Ratatouille from our very loyal and supportive customer Meghan McCarthy @cleaneatsfastfeets!
Ratatouille is a perfect dish for late summer evenings because you can literally throw any veggies in that you've got lying around from us or from your garden. Meghan's recipe is ideal for this week because she's included many of the items we were lucky enough to rescue and share with you in this week's box; zucchini, onion, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and more!
According to Meghan, "the best way to describe Ratatouille is a savory vegetable stew utilizing mid to late summer produce and fresh herbs." She says, "it’s a bowl of comfort, wrapped in intense flavor" and prefers to toss hers with some fresh pappardelle pasta. "It’s like a dream come true, only served up family style." Meghan, we couldn't agree more!
Let's get to it!
Ratatouille
by Meghan McCarthy
@cleaneatsfastfeets
Serves 6
Ratatouille. A savory stew of late summer produce, which pairs perfectly with your pasta of choice.
2 1/2 cups Squash and/or Zucchini, roasted
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1/3 cup Onion, diced
1 medium Eggplant, diced
4 cloves Garlic, diced
1 Bay Leaf
2 cups Bell Pepper, diced
2 large Tomatoes, diced
2 tsp. dried Thyme
3 Tbsp. fresh Basil, cut into ribbons
Pappardelle Pasta, cooked according to package directions.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lay squash on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Drizzle squash with olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let cook for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
While squash are roasting, add 1/3 cup of olive oil to a large pot over medium high heat. Once the oil is warm, add your onions, a crank of salt and pepper and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium and add in eggplant, garlic, bay leaf, another crank of salt and pepper and let cook another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to low and add in bell peppers, roasted squash, tomatoes, thyme and basil, yet another crank of salt and pepper and cook for another 30 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally. Taste it and add additional seasonings if desired.
The longer you cook it, the thicker it will become. Once ratatouille has reached desired thickness, remove from eat and serve over a bed of pasta.
Notes
To freeze, add cooked Ratatouille, without pasta, to a freezer safe container. When ready to use, defrost, and reheat in a saucepan with a little bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.
To find Meghan's original Ratatouille post and to check out all her other delicious recipes, visit her blog www.cleaneatsfastfeets.com. Thanks Meghan for continually inspiring us with your healthy, simple ideas for turning our Perfectly Imperfect Produce into pretty meals.
Show us what you're up to in the kitchen this week by tagging us @perfectlyimperfectproduce on Facebook and Instagram!
Recipe and photos by Meghan McCarthy, @cleaneatsfastfeets, www.cleaneatsfastfeets.com
