Char-grilled Ratatouille with Polenta
The perfect dish to use up the last of your summer produce!
Growing up in a vegetarian household, ratatouille was a staple dish especially at this time of the year. There is only so many dishes you can make with your excess tomatoes, zucchini, capsicums and eggplants before you will end up making ratatouille. I must admit that I used to find it hard to get excited about ratatouille. I have had a few average versions over the years and I always got confused about what to serve it with. Pasta, rice?
My big break through with ratatouille came about a few years ago and this was for two reasons. First, because I have a tendency to make dishes more complicated than necessary, I started individually pan frying the vegetables. This took the flavour up a notch and added extra depth and complexity to the dish. That rich, smokey flavour of almost burnt food is one of my favourite flavours in the world; one too often missing in vegetarian food. So for me the extra work of charring the vegetables was totally worth it.
The other factor was the addition of dill. Dill is my favourite herb (if I had to choose!) but I would never had thought it belonged in ratatouille until I met Che and saw him using it. And it was so good! I have definitely learned a lot from Che over the years – he is a talented cook. I actually feel bad because since meeting me he hardly ever spends any time in the kitchen. I have a tendency to be very fussy with what I eat and a bit controlling and bossy in the kitchen so I think I scared him away. There are only so may “helpful” suggestions I can make to him in the kitchen before any joy he may have been feeling cooking quickly evaporated. So for that I am sorry Che. Please come back into the kitchen and cook for me?
So back to the recipe. Ratatouille, when done well, is awesome. If you have run out of creative ideas to use up all your garden produce lying around on the bench top begging to be turned into something delicious – make ratatouille! I have served mine with a quick polenta as I think the textures and flavours compliment each other so well. Though considering polenta is Italian and ratatouille French, I am sure a few traditionalist would disapprove!
Char-grilled Ratatouille with Polenta
For the Ratatouille
800-1kg of ripe tomatoes
1 medium – large eggplant
1 large zucchini
1 medium – large capsicum
2 medium cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of salt flakes
1 teaspoon of fresh thyme
1/3 cup of olive oil (approximately)
1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon of red whine vinegar
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh dill
1 handful of chopped fresh parley and basil (optional)
For the Polenta
1 cup of fine polenta
2/3 cup of dry white wine
3 ½ cups of vegetable stock
40g of butter diced
5 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup of double cream
Lots of freshly ground pepper
1). Pre-heat the oven to 155 degrees Celsius. Bring a medium sized pot of water to boil. This is to blanch the tomatoes – you can skip this step if you don't mind tomato skin in your ratatouille. Cut a shallow cross into the bottom of the tomatoes and place in the boiling water for about 10 seconds, remove and place the tomatoes immediately into a bowl of cold water. You should now be able to easily removed the skins. Once peeled, cut the tomatoes lengthwise in quarters or eights (depending on the size of the tomatoes). Place in a large roasting tray.
2). Prepare the garlic by grinding the garlic, thyme and salt in morter and pestle until a rough paste forms. Add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and mix further until the garlic and oil are well combined. Gently toss the garlic thyme mix through the tomatoes, place the tray in the oven and roast for about 1 ½ - 2 hours. Make sure the tomatoes don't dry out and start to caramelise – you want them to retain their juiciness. If they are drying out too much, turn down the oven, and add a little water.
3). Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the vegetables. Stripe peel (peel alternating layers) the eggplant and cut into 3cm chunks. Toss with ½ teaspoon of salt and leave in a colander to drain the bitter juices. After at least half an hour, gently rinse the eggplant and pat dry. De-seed and cut the capsicum into 3cm squares and cut the zucchini into rounds.
4). Pre-heat a fry pan on a high heat. Cook the vegetables in batches – using about 1 tablespoon of oil for each batch – you will probably need a little more for the eggplant. Don't crowd the pan, wipe down after each batch and make sure the heat is up really high - the idea is to get a nice char on the vegetables but you don't want them to be fully cooked as the ratatouille will end up too mushy once it's baked later on.
5). Once the vegetables are all charred and delicious looking, add to the cooked tomatoes. Gently stir through the vinegar, sugar and lots of freshly cracked pepper. Depending on how much liquid is left in your tomatoes, you made need to add half a cup of water if the ratatouille seems too dry.
6). Return the tray to the oven (keep it at 155 degrees) and cook for about 35 - 45 minutes. Obviously everything is already cooked so this step it just about bringing the flavours together. Remoe from the oven and taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. If it's a bit sweet add some more vinegar. Mix through the dill and other herbs if using. I recommend leaving it a day (in the fridge) before eating as this gives the flavours a chance to develop and become even more delicious!
7). To make the polenta, bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan. Add the polenta, stirring constantly for the first minute to prevent lumps forming. Cook for about 15 minutes adding a little extra water if needed - just be mindful it will become thinner when the cream is added. Make sure you stir frequently. Keep cooking until it has lost some of it's grainy texture – best way to test it is to taste it. When you are happy the polenta is cooked, add the butter, cream and Parmesan and stir until the cheese has melted. Taste and add more of any of the dairy products if you think it needs it. It's important to serve the polenta quickly as as soon as you let it sit it will start to set and then form lumps if your stir it again. So make sure the ratatouille is ready and hot for when the polenta is done.
8). Spoon a couple of large serving spoon of the polenta in four serving bowls and top with the ratatouille. Top with lots fo extra fresh herbs and crusty bread.
Vegan variation: The ratatouille is vegan. To make the polenta vegan, add an extra ½ cup of water and omit the butter, cheese and cream. Instead, add 1 teaspoon of truffle oil and ½ teaspoon of vegan dashi stock powder and/or ½ teaspoon of nutritional yeast. Mix well and adjust for seasoning.
FODMAP friendly version: The polenta is FODMAP friendly. For the ratatouille, omit the onion and replace the garlic in the roasted tomatoes with 1 ½ teaspoons of garlic infused oil.
