Carrots, zucchini, butternut squash, eggplant, onions, tomatoes, and red peppers...looks like ratatoullie to me.
Another day of running like crazy, but I did dash into the farmers market while I was in town today, for a quick fix of local veg.
My family is crazy about ratatoullie. In the midst of enjoying the late summer non-schedule, I usually make it by the traditional French technique of sautéing each veggie type individually, ending with tomatoes, to de-glaze the pot, and finally combining them all for a little simmer time at the end. Delicious.
But that's summer. Not September. And standing there sautéing the veggie types individually was decidedly NOT fitting into my schedule today.
But that's summer. Not September. And standing there sautéing the veggie types individually was decidedly NOT fitting into my schedule today.
So, with serious trepidation, I reluctantly decided to try out "Rustic Two-Cheese Ratatoullie" from the Healthy Slow Cooker Cookbook. It's your basic "chop and drop"...everything into the pot at once and walk off. Come back 3 1/2 hrs later to some version of ratatoullie.
I really had my misgivings. It just didn't seem possible that ratatoullie could be "right" without the individual sautés...but guess what? The easy crock pot version was really, really good.
It was just your basic ratatoullie veggies: EZ POT. (Eggplant, Zucchini, Peppers, Onions, and Tomatoes...EZ POT. That's how you remember the order in which they get sautéed, when going the traditional route...thanks Melissa D'Arabian for that awesome acronym! Here's her classic French ratatoullie recipe that I use when I go the traditional preparation route.)
I peel my eggplant by the way. I can't stand the way the eggplant peel squeeks between my teeth.
The crock pot ratatoullie included dried herbs and a splash of balsalmic vinegar at the very end--nice touch.
It was just your basic ratatoullie veggies: EZ POT. (Eggplant, Zucchini, Peppers, Onions, and Tomatoes...EZ POT. That's how you remember the order in which they get sautéed, when going the traditional route...thanks Melissa D'Arabian for that awesome acronym! Here's her classic French ratatoullie recipe that I use when I go the traditional preparation route.)
I peel my eggplant by the way. I can't stand the way the eggplant peel squeeks between my teeth.
The crock pot ratatoullie included dried herbs and a splash of balsalmic vinegar at the very end--nice touch.
Here's the pot full of ratatoullie, not yet cooked.
And here it is, ready to devour, served over brown rice pasta.
My family loved this dish. It went into the crock pot as I dashed (once again) out the door to pick-up/drop-off for school and piano lessons. By the time I got home it was smelling good. And by the time hubby got home it was smelling really good. We ate it over gluten-free organic brown rice pasta, and tossed some Italian cheeses on top. Oh my. Oven roasted chicken drumsticks on the side.
This....was a good meal. Definitely going to be making this one again and again. The quick way. To tell you the truth, it didn't really taste much different from the lengthy traditional technique...except that it took a small fraction of the time to prepare. I must say that the tomatoes and onions didn't caramelize and thicken of course, like they do on the stovetop...the crock pot version was more liquid, sort of "brothy". Thin juices. But the flavor was all there, baby. Good stuff. And truthfully...crock pot ratatoullie is much better than no ratatoullie at all, which is how it would be if I had to do it on the stovetop...just not even possible on a day like today.
As long as I was chopping stuff--I went ahead and doubled it, and put the other 1/2 of my choppings into a ziplock and froze it. I'm going to attempt to simply thaw it, and dump it into the crock pot another busy day; and I'm guessing it will work great. In fact, I'm pretty confident that it will work, so I'm going to stock up on EZ POT at Saturday's market and do up about 6 gallon ziplock bags full of ready-to-crock pot ratatoullie. It will look terrible thawed, not all bright and crisp like it does fresh, but seriously, once it's cooked? I don't think it will matter at all. I'm pretty sure we'll never know the difference. And all that vibrant summer nutrition will be sitting there in the freezer, dormant, just waiting to be consumed.
This specific recipe is nowhere to be found on the net, but there are millions of crock pot ratatoullies out there, and you know what? I bet they're all just pretty much another version of EZ POT. You could look in the book for this excellent recipe, or locate a similar one elsewhere. Either way....I'm here to witness that ratatoullie CAN be done in the crock pot thank-you-very-much, and delightfully so.
Want a little pre-view of tomorrow? Check out the market photo above...the items I did not use up in the ratatoullie are going to be the super-stars of tomorrow's post. ;)
UPDATE: This made for some crazy-good (and fast) lunchbox filling the next morning. Toss the leftover ratatoullie with the leftover pasta, a drizzle of olive oil, and chunks of leftover chicken. Top with cheese if desired.
UPDATE: This made for some crazy-good (and fast) lunchbox filling the next morning. Toss the leftover ratatoullie with the leftover pasta, a drizzle of olive oil, and chunks of leftover chicken. Top with cheese if desired.
Pop the lid on. How quick was that?
Some dried plums and a rich piece of very dark chocolate rounded out this meal.
UPDATE #2: I couldn't resist...I pulled out my bag of frozen ratatoullie this morning to test it. I let it thaw on the counter for about 45 min, and then opened the bag and dumped the still-somewhat-frozen contents into the crock. Low, 4 hrs. When I came home it looked exactly like it did fresh--WINNER!!! Maybe a little more watery. I've currently got the lid off-set to let the liquid reduce. Another 30-60 minutes should be all it takes. Hooray...EZ POT freezer bags coming up this weekend.
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