Have you ever watched Disney's Ratatouilee and really wanted to eat the Ratatouille he makes in the end? Well I don't know if I am wierd or not but it just looks so good to me! So a while back when I got an eggplant in my Bountiful Basket, I tried it & I loved it!! I googled the recipe, found the one I liked the best, added a few of my own elements & went to town. So here is my modified version. (The original version is from
www.smittenkitchen.com)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup tomato puree
1 small eggplant
1 smallish yellow zucchini squash
1 smallish zucchini
1 longish red bell pepper
1/2 tsp. Thyme
1/2 tsp. Basil
2 garlic cloved, very thinly sliced or minced (I like mine minced)
2 tbls. olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
Italian blend cheese
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish. (I don't see why this wouldn't work with a square or rectangular dish if you don't have an oval one.) Stir in garlic, onion, one tbls. olive oil and seasonings. Salt and pepper to taste.
Slice all vegetables into thin slices and arrange concentrically on top of tomato mixture. (For really big pieces, most of the eggplant, I cut them in half so they would fit better.)
Drizzle remaining olve oil over vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Add a bit of cheese on top and a few sprinkles of thyme.
Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.
Bake approx. 30 to 35 minutes to where the veggies are cooked but not totally limp. The tomato sauce should be bubbling up around the veggies. I like to put a little more cheese on the top of mine after I serve it, because I LOVE cheese!!
I was going to be all fancy & make my own garlic bread, but got lazy & just threw some frozen stuff in the oven. We had this last night with some breaded chicken strips & it was so very yummy!!!
