Tuesday, October 02, 2012

MoFo 2: Glorious Ratatouille

Happy Mofo Day 2! Mondays are one of my fun nights because I don't teach, and so I have time for more special dinners. Every year, about this time, I feel a seasonal obligation to make some ratatouille. I know there are easy ratatouille recipes, where you can just chop up some peppers and eggplants and throw it all in a pot - but I like to take on a proper project.

This year, I had two brilliant ideas that really enhanced our ratatouille experience. First of all, I decided to make a double batch, in my big cast iron pan ... so that we could have half left over. Good Thinking, Amey!

This recipe actually bakes for about 3.5 hours... but you don't actually have to do anything during that time - just surf around on the internet and comment on other MoFo blogs! That said, even the prep can take a while. This year I figured out a way to really speed up the veggie arrangement process. You are supposed to arrange them like this: yellow squash - green squash - eggplant - tomato (repeat). So! My second brilliant realization was when I realized that you could basically collate them all on the cutting board first! I would set out about 15-20 yellow squashes, stack on the green zukes, then the eggplants, and so on... until I had 20 bunches all arranged. Then they were super speedy to place in the pan. 


Here it is after all the baking. I'll admit, I started a little later in the day than I should have. Somehow I remembered that it had to bake for 2 hours... not 3.5! So, we rushed the baking a little... had "firsts" set it back in the oven, and then had some slightly more cooked "seconds." It was good both times! And, happily, there is still half the pan left over for lunches!

22 comments:

  1. what a beautiful ratatouille! it reminds me of the one in the disney movie ;)

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    1. that's exactly the recipe that I used!! It is SO FREAKY GOOD!!!

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  2. Oooh, I remember when you made that last time! That is soooo damn pretty. Really, I think it may be too pretty to eat.

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  3. Oh wow, I love that this is the Ratatouille recipe from the movie! I'm totally making this as soon as I have the time, I haven't made ratatouille for years but it was one of the first ever things I made as a vegan!

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  4. beautiful looking!

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  5. I adore this so much... you know, every time I cook and I'm half-proud of the recipe, I hear the voice of the chef in Ratatouille say in that reeediculous French accent, "anyone can cook!" And so, I take your dish as a sign of good things for all of vegan MoFo.

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  6. You are soooooo much more patient than I. Super pretty, so impressive!
    xo
    kittee

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  7. P.S. If you're able to turn your Captcha off during MoFo, you'll get more comments and love and liven hearts.

    xo
    kittee

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  8. mmmm i love ratatouille!

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  9. Awesome. I've never actually had ratatouille - I thought it would be more mushy - but it doesn't look that mushy!

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  10. that ratatouille is beautiful!

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  11. Beautiful! I want to eat all the colors! Your illustrations are always so cute :)

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  12. So pretty! Reminds me of the ratatouille in the movie!

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  13. It looks so gorgeous! I haven't made ratatouille for ages but my version is usually a throw together which doesn't look very appetising. This would be great to serve for a crowd, I'm bookmarking it! Also, your doodles are so cute.

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  14. What a beautiful ratatouille! It looks so pretty with the perfect layering of the vegetables and I can only imagine how amazing it must taste after all that effort and the long baking time. Do you have a link to the recipe?
    I loved your rainbow potluck pictures from yesterday as well, by the way, and I always love the doodles - looking forward to reading more from you this MoFo!

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  15. That looks really good. I've never had ratatouille, but maybe this will be the year!

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  16. So pretty! I'm usually too lazy to prettify my ratatouille, but the outcome sure makes it look worthwhile. Still smitten with your illustrations, by the way.

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  17. That looks amazingly good, Ames! I would love to try something like it but I'd probably give up and start chucking the veggies in all over the place!

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  18. That is one hell of a ratatouille Amey! It looks like it could have gone to the rainbow party. So pretty!

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  19. Ratatouille is the dish that wins my heart... every time

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  20. That ratatouille is seriously gorgeous. Nicely done.

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