End-of-Summer Ratatouille with Goat Cheese
Serves: 6
Ingredients
8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped fresh herbs of choice, italian parsley, basil, rosemary and/or sage
½ C extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 lb eggplant, peel intact, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 1/4 teaspoons unrefined sea salt
2 large onions (1 1/2 lb total), chopped fine
4 medium zucchini (2 lb), quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick pieces
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Juice from ½ lemon
Directions
Garnish: Goat cheese and fresh basil
1. Rinse and cut eggplant into 1” thick saucers. Sprinkle generously with salt and let drain on towels or in colander over sink while preparing other vegetables.
2. Peel tomatoes by cutting out the core and cutting an “x” into the bottom. Boil water and put tomatoes in for 1 minute then remove and place into ice bath until cool. Remove skins and compost, freeze for stock or discard. Coarsley chop tomatoes and put in bowl and set aside.
3. Chop onions, slice garlic and chop herbs. Sauté onions in large cast iron skillet over medium heat in 1/3 C olive oil for about 5 minutes, stirring to make sure not to burn. While stirring, add sea salt to bring out onion juice and caramelize. Then add garlic and ½ of the herbs and stir until fragrant.
4. Add tomatoes and bring to a rolling simmer and simmer low about 5 minutes, until slightly thickened.
5. Meanwhile, rinse and pat dry eggplant and chop into 1/2” cubes. Add eggplant and zucchini, and cook another 10 minutes or until done. Add almost the entire remainder of the herbs, drizzle with more olive oil to add more “comfort”, season with salt and pepper and add juice from lemon as a nice contrast and to pick up the flavor of the vegetables
6. Add goat cheese as garnish each plate with a pinch of herbs and drizzle again with olive oil. Serve over quinoa either by itself or alongside a light white broiled fish.