Jonagold Delicata Ratatouille

In this Food for Thought class, Lolly our Chef, cooked a very delicious and nutritious dish with seasonal vegetables available in the market. Check out the video and learn some cooking techniques.  

Farmers market

Jonagold Delicata ratatouille

Ingredients:

7 tbsp good quality olive oil, divided

2 small onions*

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1  small jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced

2 small red peppers*

1/2 small Delicata squash, cut in ½ and remove seeds*

1 cup French beans, trimmed

1 medium zucchini*

1 Jonagold or Honeycrisp apple, peeled*

1/2 large eggplant, peeled*

1 small potato, peeled*

2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 teaspoons salt

Black pepper

1 cup water

chopped cilantro to garnish (optional) 

*Chop into 1 ¼” pieces.

Procedure:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. 
2. In a large bowl, prepare an ice bath.
3. Cut an x on the bottom of each tomato, and cut out the stem core on the top.
4. With a slotted spoon, place tomato in boiling water just long enough to blanch it.  The skin will start to separate where the x was cut. 
5. Transfer tomatoes to ice bath.  Do not let them sit in bath too long  as it dilutes the flavor.
6. Remove tomato from bath and peel skin with a paring knife. 
7. Prepare (mise en place) all ingredients as listed above noting the *.
8. Preheat oven to 400°F.
9. Heat large pot to medium.  Add 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
10. Add garlic, jalapeno and red peppers and continue for another 5 minutes.
11. Add squash and continue for another 5 minutes.
12. Using a slotted spoon, lift the vegetables out of the pot and into a medium bowl, leaving as much of the oil in the pot as possible.
13. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, French beans, zucchini, apple  and eggplant. Sauté another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
14. Return contents of bowl to pot.
15. Add potato, tomatoes, tomato paste salt and pepper, stir well.
16. Add just enough water, to half-cover the vegetables. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 30 minutes.
17. Taste vegetables.  Add salt and pepper as needed.
18. Use slotted spoon to gently lift the vegetables into large, deep roasting pan making a layer about 1 ¼” thick.
19. Pour liquid over vegetables cook in oven for 30 minutes. Vegetables should be very soft and most of the liquid evaporated.
20. Optional- garnish with cilantro, and serve.  

Adapted from Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi. Yotam Ottolenghi.