PROVENÇALE RATATOUILLE
Preparation time: 30 minutesCook time: 50 minutes to 1 hourServes 4-6
Ratatouille is a delicious, classic, approachable dish that provides a fantastic opportunity to put your STEELPORT Chef Knife to work on nearly every ingredient, using a variety of cuts.
When a recipe calls for this much precise vegetable prep, having a knife that's extremely sharp and extremely comfortable makes all the difference in creating an enjoyable evening of cooking.
Feel free to get creative with how you style the vegetables before baking!
Ingredients
6-7 garlic cloves, smashed, peeled
1 yellow onion, diced
3 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4” disks
2 yellow summer squash, cut into 1/4” disks
2 medium eggplant, cut into 1/4” disks (discs may be halved or quartered if eggplant is very large to be roughly the same diameter as the other ingredients)
2 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1/4” strips
1/3 cup basil, chiffonade
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed, chopped (plus extra for garnish if desired)
6 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed, chopped (plus extra for garnish if desired)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 can (14 oz) crushed Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes (or other high quality crushed tomatoes)
1 cup olive oil, more as needed
2 bay leaves
1 ½ teaspoons Jacobsen Salt Co. fine sea salt + more to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare the vegetables and herbs using your STEELPORT Chef Knife.
Heat 12” FINEX cast iron skillet over medium heat and sauté diced onion in 2 tbs. olive oil with a pinch salt for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until gently browned and translucent. Add crushed garlic cloves, and sauté another minute, until just aromatic. Remove skillet from heat.
Transfer cooked onions and garlic to medium bowl (Do not rinse the cast iron at this point, simply set aside) and mix in Bianco DiNapoli crushed tomatoes, chopped herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Pour the mixture back into the base of your skillet.
Layer the sliced vegetables, minus the red pepper, standing up vertically coming from the outside of the skillet to the center, packing them as tight as you can. Meaning: start by placing your bigger sliced pieces against the edge of your skillet all the way around with no overlap. From each large piece, start a row going into the center by laying another just smaller piece leaning against it vertically until you reach the center. After you have fit in as many vegetables as you can to make your design, tuck in the sliced pieces of red pepper throughout the composition.
Season the top of the vegetables with 1 1/2 tsp. Jacobsen Salt Co. sea salt, pepper to taste, and tuck in extra thyme rosemary sprigs and bay leaves. Drizzle generously with olive oil, so all vegetables are coated and covered (will be about 1/4-1/2 cup depending on the size of your vegetables.
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, remove cover, then bake another 20 minutes or until vegetables are softened and starting to brown slightly.
Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes, and serve in your FINEX cast iron pan with a protective towel around the hot handle and placed on a trivet to enjoy at the table.
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