A New Take on Ratatouille

My mom has always made ratatouille in a skillet on the stove.  So I have always made it that way too.  And I have always just used eggplant and zucchini as the "core vegetables" and then added other veggies that I had in the fridge.  Saute that, add some crushed tomatoes, pour it over some pasta, and be done!

Is that how you make it?

I had some lots of tomatoes from my garden and a bunch of eggplant too.  So I decided to make ratatouille to use them up.  I found a different (to me) take on ratatouille and I thought I would give it a try.  I loved the result!  You spend about 15 minutes chopping up the veggies, while at the same time softening the eggplant in a skillet with some garlic and parsley.  Then you just layer everything in a baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.

Yes, the 45 minutes is a little longer than what I usually think is acceptable for a weeknight meal.  But I think some days it is okay to have something in the oven so long.  That was enough time for me and the Toddler to go out and do some weeding!

Ratatouille
recipe from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
2 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried parsley (AFC note: I used a lot of fresh parsley)
1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
salt to taste
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
2 zucchini, sliced
1 large onion, sliced into rings
2 C sliced fresh mushrooms
1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 large tomatoes, chopped (AFC note: I sliced mine!)

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat bottom and sides of a 1.5qt casserole dish with i T olive oil.
• Heat remaining olive oil in skillet over medium heat and saute garlic until lightly browned.   Add parsley and eggplant and cook until eggplant is soft (about 10 minutes).  Season with salt to taste.  (AFC note: I sauteed the eggplant and parsley first, then added the garlic for about 1 minute).
• Spread eggplant mixture on bottom of casserole dish.  Sprinkle with some cheese.  Layer the remaining veggies on top, sprinkling cheese and salt between each layer.
• Bake in oven for about 45 minutes

I served the veggies over pasta that had been tossed with some pasta sauce.  It was really good!

P.S. I'm linking up to Lil Pink Pocket's blog hop and the linky party at Serenity Now!