Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Ratatouille Time





 When you have oodles of ripe zucchini and oodles of ripe tomatoes, it's RATATOUILLE TIME!   (Just in case you don't know that word, it's pronounced "rat ah two eee.)

This morning Jim picked a basket full of ripe tomatoes.  We had a few zucchinis in the fridge and I picked several more.

The first step: Wash and cut
up tomatoes.   Bring to a boil in a saucepan.
Put through a food mill to get rid of the skins and seeds.
This is a French Vegetable mill,  and works like a charm.  It perches on top of a container.  You put in some soup ladles of cooked tomatoes, turn the handle, and the skins and pits stay in the top section, the juicy pulp falls through.  You can use the pulp (boiled down a bit) as tomato paste, or you can use the very juicy pulp on its own.  It makes a super tomato juice drink.

Second step: Cut up an onion.  Put some olive oil in the bottom of a heavy Dutch oven.  Begin to sauté the onion.
Wash and slice lots of zucchini.  Add them to the pan.

Slice some of your favourite sausage.  I'm using Mennonite sausage that the Vancouver kids left behind by mistake--our gain!  Sauté the sausage in a tiny bit of olive oil.  Add to the pan.



While the mix in the Dutch oven is slowly cooking, add some Vegetable Seasonings, some oregano, some basil, a little seasoned salt.  If you like hot, you can add tabasco sauce, or perhaps some crushed red chillies.  I can't give you amount because I just shake in what looks about right.

Continue cooking at a very slow "bubble."
After the mix has cooked for about 15 minutes, add a few cups of the juicy tomato pulp.  


Later I added some cut up Italian plum tomatoes, just to have some distinguishable tomatoes in the mix.









Here it is, almost ready to serve.  Spoon it over a helping of rice, and you have a complete meal.






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