Eggplants are one of my favorite foods, but I didn’t want to give a basic recipe for something like eggplant parmesan. Don’t get me wrong, I love eggplant parm, but there’s more to the veggie than just as a substitute for chicken. And how pretty are these Italian eggplants!

I made ratatouille for the first time back in college. I had to make a three-course meal for one of my classes (that people paid to attend!) and each group was given a theme. For that year, the theme was Disney movies, and my group happened to get Ratatouille! I was so excited because not only is that one of my favorite Pixar movies, but making a French meal gave us a lot of options and recipes to explore. We ended up making 9 different recipes, more than anyone else, including homemade herb butter with cream from the cows at our school, fresh baguettes, orange chocolate madeleines, and of course, ratatouille.

Ratatouille is often a summer dish with the squashes used and the lightness of the dish, but as we get towards the end of eggplant season and into the cold weather, making a hearty, autumn-y ratatouille certainly hits the spot.

Filled with lots of sage, other fall veggies can be substituted for the standard summer squashes such as butternut squash and rutabaga, although I chose to stick with traditional veggies and fill my sauce with seasonal flavors.

While this recipe can be time-consuming slicing all the veggies thinly, using a mandolin can definitely save a lot of time and keep everything nice and uniform.

Ratatouille

Serves 4, Prep time: 60 minutes, Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 1/4 onion finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced*
• 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh sage leaves, chopped
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 2-3 tbsp dry white wine
• salt and pepper

Ratatouille:

• 1 small eggplant, as skinny as possible
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 medium yellow summer squash
• 3 roma tomatoes
• 1 tsp EVOO
• salt and pepper
• a few thyme leaves
• fresh mozzarella
• fresh parmesan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. In a sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 tbsp of butter and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent.
3. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until garlic is fragrant but not burned.
4. Add crushed tomatoes, thyme, and sage, and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring often.
5. Add butter, EVOO, and wine, cook for another 1-2 minutes and season with salt and pepper
6. Slice veggies as thinly as possible with a sharp knife or a mandolin.
7. Pour sauce to cover the bottom of a pie dish.
8. Arrange slices of alternating veggies at an angle until dish is full. They should be fairly tight, but not overly so.
9. Top with drizzle of EVOO, salt and pepper, thyme, freshly grated parmesan, and dollops of fresh mozzarella.
10. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
11. Enjoy with some crusty bread!

*an easy trick to peeling garlic quickly is to crush it with the blade of your knife like in this picture

Happy Nourishing!