In the Kitchen with The Anxious Enthusiast
Weekend Ratatouille
Recipes for Anxious Chefs #3
There are complicated recipes and ones that simply take a bit of time and love to bring to fruition. My recipe for Weekend Ratatouille falls into the category of the latter. It is not difficult, but it does take time.
An anxious conundrum
My anxiety can make the world feel like it doesn’t make sense, like I am the broken cog in the seemingly endless, unforgiving turn of a humungous, forceful set of gears.
Breathless, I often hunger for an experience that reminds me that there are places and activities that do, in fact, make sense. In the kitchen, I remember.
The solution is in the kitchen
Knives chop and vegetables yield.
The seasons change and the earth shares its creations.
Food comes in every color, a balm to my eyes.
Roasting makes caramel of anything it touches.
Some ingredients are always friendly, while others take coaxing, and still others surprise me with the way they relate when I invite another ingredient to the mix, but the surprise is pleasant, like a sweet peck on the cheek from a sleepy toddler.
When I am looking for an excuse to spend time puttering about in the kitchen, simple, slightly fiddly, and deliciously gorgeous recipes are the ones I light upon.
The story of Weekend Ratatouille
The original impetus for this recipe was to treat one of the great loves of my life — my younger sister, Kendra. She loves Ratatouille, both the dish and the animated movie. I had been meaning to invite her over for some time.
Although we live in the same city, we don’t see each other often. I became so celebrative at the thought of our time together I decided to make her favorite dish.
It doesn’t happen that I decide to make something special and I have everything on hand, but that is the beauty of ratatouille.
Much like my recipe for Every Season Vegetable Shakshuka, this recipe is classically made with seasonal (in this case summer) ingredients. Combining these ingredients with a few pantry staples, I didn’t even have to go shopping to make Weekend Ratatouille for the first time. It was an anxious girl’s dream.
Let’s get in the kitchen.
The Recipe, Serves 2 as a Main Course
(Serves up to 6 if serving as a Small Side)
What you need for Weekend Ratatouille:
Fresh zucchini, 1–2 whole
Fresh summer (yellow) squash, 1–2 whole
Yukon gold potatoes, 4–5 sizeable
One sizeable sweet potato
Garlic, 4 cloves
One shallot
Three mild, small red peppers (optional)
Dried red pepper flakes (optional)
1–2 Tablespoons tomato paste
One jar of your favorite tomato sauce
Two leafy stems of fresh basil
Water, 1/3 cup
Olive Oil, S&P
Fresh thyme (3–4 sprigs or ¼ teaspoon dried)
Two tiny tomatoes for garnish (recommended)
One Large Cast Iron Pan: I use my French/Dutch oven for this. The ideal dish is at least 2 inches high, 8 inches in diameter, and has a lid. Your chosen vessel must be both oven and stove-top friendly. Enameled is fine. — OR — If you don’t have cast iron, you can use two vessels: a stove-top safe saucepan for making the sauce and an oven-safe ceramic dish (or 6–8 small ramekins if you want to make individual portions) for assembling and baking.
Vegetables: zucchini and summer squash are summer staples in much of the United States. I added a variety of potatoes because I love potatoes. You could also use tomato slices, pepper slices, and/or the classic eggplant/aubergine. When you do go shopping, try to pick vegetables that will yield the same size slices so that your ratatouille swirl forms evenly.
Many ratatouille recipes you will find consist of vegetables in small chunks, but I love the look of the slices swirled in their saucy red pool. The thinner you slice, the more time-consuming the dish will be, but also the more delicate your ratatouille will look at the end. There is nothing wrong with a thicker swirl. Gauge your energy level and care factor and go with your gut.
Garlic: that is, fresh. Buy a whole bulb. Buy three bulbsin a pack! Fresh garlic has a great shelf life and its flavor is unmatched by the jarred stuff.
Shallot: a shallot by any other name is a small, aromatic onion that has no bite. If you cannot find a shallot or if you must, definitely use a white, red or yellow onion diced as small as you can. Perhaps only half a medium-sized onion or a quarter of a large. I have met onions as big as my face and they are much too much onion for this recipe.
Small Red Peppers: I had these in my refrigerator and they needed to be used. You could also use half of a red bell pepper, but not green bell pepper. The beauty of red, juicy pepper pieces in a hot pan with onion and tomato is that they lead to a sort of thick, sweet, red vegetal jelly and I wanted that for this recipe. They are not essential.
Red Pepper Flakes: an essence of Italian cooking that adds a warm, delightful length to the flavor of sauces, braised meats, and bakes when used in moderation. Dried pepper flakes are a keen addition to my spice life. Weekend Ratatouille is not a spicy dish. It simply leaves your mouth caressed by the splendid warmth of what I can only describe as coming home. That is in part the pepper flakes. I hope you will try them in this recipe.
Tomato Paste: can be bought in a can, but I always find it is too much to use before it goes off. Look for tomato paste that is sold in a sort of metal “toothpaste tube”. This container option has a long shelf life when kept in the fridge.
Tomato Pasta Sauce: I love Rao’s Marinara. They sell it at Costco in a two-pack. You could make your own sauce, but I usually don’t. It is best if you stay basic. I’d buy a quality marinara or tomato basil sauce, meatless, without mushrooms or anything chunky that isn’t tomatoes.
Basil: fresh is ideal. You could use a half teaspoon of dried basil if fresh is not in season or leave it out altogether. Don’t stress about this. It is green and leaves lovely melted flecks in the sauce, but you would remove the larger stems anyway and it will not negatively impact the flavor.
Water: no need to upscale. Broth or dry wine would work well too if you’re feeling creative. Red wine and white wine offer different flavors when cooked, but they are both divine in tomato sauce. Feel free to explore a new cooking liquid each time you make it.
Olive oil, S&P: at the beginning, the middle, and the end.
Thyme: a sort of garnish, but lovely for flavor as well. Fresh or dried is fine.
Tiny tomatoes: entirely aesthetic and recommended. When you spend this much time on something lovely, you may as well splurge on tiny tomatoes.
Step 1: Thinly Sliced Veg
Wash and slice zucchini, summer squash, and both kinds of potatoes to your desired thickness (see the above note). Take your time. Savor this. If you own and choose to use a mandolin, enjoy slow slicing and keeping all of your fingers and nails. Toss slices in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a half teaspoon of salt. Set aside for Step 3.
Step 2: Sauce
Dice shallot and red peppers. Over medium-high heat, heat your dutch oven or saucepan and add 2 tablespoons olive oil, shallot and red peppers. While the shallot and peppers are infusing the oil, smash, peel, and dice garlic. In 5–7 minutes, the shallot will look translucent. Add tomato paste and garlic, stirring for 1–2 minutes until you smell the waft of fresh garlic and you see the color of the bright red tomato paste has changed to a deep, rich, almost wine red.
Pour in one jar of marinara. Add basil with stems, whole. Stir to combine. Turn stovetop to low and simmer sauce for 20 minutes OR put into a 375-degree oven for the same amount of time. This reduces the sauce to a rich and flavorful thickness that will hold your beautiful slices with integrity.
After 20 minutes reduction, remove basil stems. You may wish to let your sauce cool before you proceed to Step 3: The Swirl & Garnish. If you are using a ceramic dish, pour the sauce into your desired cooking vessel.
Step 3: The Swirl & Garnish
Retrieve vegetable slices: zucchini, summer squash, sweet potato and gold potato. Beginning with gold potato slice, place sweet potato slice, then summer squash, and then zucchini slice. Repeat this pattern around the outer edge of your pan in a spiral. Continue placing vegetables in a decorative fashion until there is no more room for slices.
***I find it easier — and speedier — to arrange part of the pattern in my hands first and then to arrange the colorful slice-packs one after another in the pan. (Glossary version of “colorful slice-pack”: a grouping of one of each of the four slices, in order, built in my hands.) Transfer to dish and repeat.
Tear thyme leaves off of their sprigs and scatter or arrange over your spiraled slices. Also top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt, some cracked pepper, and in this case, two tiny tomatoes from your home garden (or from wherever you get tomatoes). These two tomatoes will get roasty and delicious. People will fight over them.
Step 4: Bake and Serve
Place your ratatouille on the center rack in a 375-degree oven, baking for one hour or until veg is roasty, fork-tender, and brown. Begin baking with a lid or aluminum foil for the first 40 minutes. Then remove the covering and bake for another 20 minutes. If you want more browning, you may turn your oven to 425 degrees for 5 or so minutes beyond cooktime. Serve warm or at room temperature. Bon Appetit!
Serving Options:
Serve it On a Weeknight: prepared on the weekend, stopping before Step 4. Held in the fridge until desired use, 1–3 days.
Serve it Vegetarian (as a Main): over a bed of protein-packed ancient grains. Accompanied by steamed green beans and a crusty, French-style boule.
Serve it Like the Movie: to your inner critic oven warm, on a salad plate, alone. Drizzled with olive oil and a bit of parsley. Followed by inspired passion and memory of a great love, with raving a review and celebration to follow.
Serve it Low Carb: beneath a breast of Parmesan Chicken, instead of pasta. Accompanied by a lovely green salad.
Serve it At a Picnic: cooled and put on a plate for wrapping to take to your favorite park, hillside, or concert venue. Along with nibbles: a bottle of wine, tuna sandwiches made with crusty bread, a bunch of grapes, a small wheel of brie, seeded crackers, mixed nuts, and a box of chocolates.
Serve it like The Anxious Girl: for your bestie. With gratitude for time spent creating something gorgeous and heartful, and a platter licked clean.
Please feel free to check out my profile: Brett Jenae Tomlin. Comment below if we have something in common, if you have anxiety or if you like what you’ve read. Do you have any questions for me?
If you love, love, love my writing and want to shout out, “You get it, anxious girl!” You can contribute to my cookbook collection here.
A Few More Articles for the Anxious Reader
More Comfort Food: Every Season Vegetable Shakshuka
On Wine: The Anxious Beginner’s Guide to Wine
On Planning Your Next Getaway: 9 Anxiety-Friendly Amenities of All-Inclusive Travel
On Learning to Let Go: Six Mental Health Benefits of Learning to Play
On Body Image: Summer Body, Part 1
On Coming Out: My Bi Life, Part 1
