ITTP Prague: Pimped Up Ratatouille

(Click on photo to enlarge)

The reason we have a Weekly food recipe is because so many of our clients leave home without any basic cooking skills and tend to rely on either restaurant meals or quick food fixes for their diet. We hope that readers will try some of our recipes, which are basic, because cooking for yourself or friends tends to be more affordable and of course in most cases is so much better for your health.

Last week's recipe was for Ratatouille, inspired by the Pixar film of the same name, but I made the meal in a rush because I needed to leave for a business trip and I wasn't entirely satisfied that the meal would inspire someone to spend on the ingredients and go make the dish. This week's recipe is a version of last week's recipe and is simply the version which I would have preferred to make if I had had more time and which I am calling Pimped Up Ratatouille:

Ingredients:

Ingredients (Click on photo to enlarge)

1 tablespoon olive oil
3 small eggplants
3 small zucchini
4 tomatoes
Note: a tomato is a fruit but for the sake of this recipe will be labeled as a vegetable.
3 small peppers (Orange, Red, Yellow)
A few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

For the tomato sauce base:

2 sticks of celery
A can of peeled tomatoes
Half an onion
2 garlic cloves
1 table spoon of olive oil
6 tomatoes
Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celcius (375 degrees Fahranheit).

Tomato sauce mixture (Click on photo to enlarge)

Thinly slice your garlic cloves and finely chop your half onion, adding both to a food mixer or blender. Chop up the tomatoes and add, as well as the can of peeled tomatoes. Stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the mixture heavily with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
Add approx a cup of the sauce to a baking dish so that it completely covers the floor of the dish with about a half to 1 centimeter thickness.

Sliced vegetables added to dish (Click on photo to enlarge)

Next, cut the ends of your vegetables.
Thinly slice the vegetables and arrange them on top of the mixture in the dish.
Take the sprigs of Thyme and remove the leaves and sprinkle onto the vegetables.
Add the remaining tablespoon of the olive oil and also season with salt and pepper.

Baking paper covering the dish (Click on photo to enlarge)

Take some baking paper and cut it so that it forms the exact shape of the dish. Place the paper on top of the dish, covering the vegetables. Place the dish in the preheated oven and cook for 50 minutes.

Vegetables after 50 minutes in the oven (Click on photo to enlarge)

Serve up on the plate in whichever way you see fit and experience the joy of simplicity which this dish brings to your senses.

Freshly cut French baguette (Click on photo to enlarge)

Serve with a freshly cut French baguette and a glass of French wine.

Preparation Tip:

If you are using other types of vegetables, try and remember to alternate the colors so that the dish retains that look of dark and light sequences.
Any remaining tomato sauce mixture left over can be kept in the fridge for later use as a base for a version of Spanish Gazpacho.

Hope it helps!

Dobrou chut!/Bon appetit!

Neville :-)
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