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Ratatouille

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Ratatouille is a stewed vegetable dish from Provence and mainly thought to be from Nice which is why it is sometimes referred to as ratatouille niçoise. There are dozens of different recipes and I know that a lot of the ‘purists’ opt for cooking each vegetable separately first and then combining them but I love just flinging it all together as a one pot wonder ! Still tastes lovely !

Ingredients :

  • Olive oil
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 aubergine
  • 3 or 4 courgettes
  • 5 or 6 tomatoes
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 1 green pepper
  • Garlic
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 laurel leaf
  • Thyme

 

Method :

  1. Wash and chop all your vegetables
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pan
  3. Fry the onions until soft and then add the peppers and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes
  4. Add the chopped aubergine, followed by the courgettes
  5. Peel the tomatoes (use a sharp knife to slice a shallow X on the bottom of the tomato and then place in boiling water for 30 seconds before transferring to a bowl of ice-cold water)
  6. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan along with the crushed garlic
  7. Add salt, pepper, thyme and a laurel leaf, lower to a low to medium heat and allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes
  8. Taste and adjust the seasoning

 

Ratatouille is delicious served with all sorts of meat and fish or with an omelette. It can be eaten hot or cold and tastes even better the next day. It’s a great way to pack lots of veggies into your meal!

 

 



Courgette Tart

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Courgette

Courgette (or ‘zucchini’ for some of you!) tart – like a quiche with extra veg 🙂

Ingredients :

  • 1 short-crust pastry (see here for recipe)
  • 1 small onion
  • 200g lardons (smoked if possible)
  • 2/3 courgettes
  • 20cl crême fraîche or cream
  • 3 eggs
  • Salt & Pepper

Method :

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C
  2. Wash and finely chop the onion and the courgettes (grating works well too if you prefer)
  3. Gently fry the lardons in a pan and then add the onion and courgettes – fry until the excess water from the courgettes evaporates
  4. Add salt (not too much because the lardons will be salty) and pepper
  5. In a bowl beat the eggs with the crême fraîche (or cream if using)
  6. Roll out you pastry and press it into a quiche dish, pricking the base with a fork
  7. Spoon the courgette, onions and lardons over the base of the tart
  8. Pour over  the egg and cream/crême fraîche mixture
  9. Bake in oven for 30 minutes
  10. Serve warm with a tossed salad

 

*  You can always add cheese too, sprinkling on top of the tart before it goes into the oven.  Or to have a vegetarian tart you could replace the lardons with a hard cheese – cheddar works well. Leave out the lardons, mix approx 125g of grated cheese into the cream and egg mixture and continue as above.