PAW's Recipe of the Month January 2018 - Ratatouille

How often do you sit and analyse your culinary variance? In many instances our menus through a week become repetitive, boring and uninteresting. Often the convenience of sticking to the tried and tested favourites lead to ‘Menu Fatigue’. This often happens in restaurants too, when the Daily Special (often a source of creating dishes to use up special purchases or combining foods in need of use) ends up being on the menu for a month or more. So many times, I have commented that the Daily Special should not be there day after day – It is NOT a Daily Special but a menu addition. Enough of that soap box gripe!

So perhaps I can divert you to the humble Aubergine (Eggplant in some countries) It is a good source of dietary fibre, Vitamin B1 and Copper. It is also a good source of manganese, Vitamin B6, Niacin, Potassium, Folate and Vitamin K. It also contains phytonutrients such as nasunin and chlorogenic acid. That’s enough of the scientific stuff. However, I would alert you to magnesium deficiency which is often left unchecked.

Clearly the Aubergine tends to feature more in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern cooking and there are no shortages of recipes that can be followed. In Sicily it features as Caponata whilst in Southern France we know its use as Ratatouille. I have to say there a host of variations that can be found for what is essentially a Vegetable Stew.

It can be eaten on its own with Rice – as an accompaniment for a Meat Dish or if slightly wetter as a hearty Soup. I have sometimes used it as a base for a Meat Stew by adding Beef or Lamb or Chicken (all of which can have been cooked before –  for example left over Sunday Roast)

Basic Ratatouille

2 tbsp Olive oil

2 Onions, large

2 cloves Garlic, crushed

2 Courgettes, medium, roughly chopped

2 Red peppers, deseeded and chopped

1 Aubergine, roughly chopped

2 cans Chopped tomatoes, 400g

1 tbsp Mixed herbs

4 tbsp Fresh basil, chopped

1.    Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 3 minutes.

2.    Stir in the courgettes, peppers and aubergine, and cook for a further 5 minutes until lightly coloured.

3.    Add the tomatoes and herbs, cover and cook over a low heat for 30-35 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Season and sprinkle with chopped basil.

Serve with Rice – Pasta – Jacket Potato – as a Side Dish.