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Ratatouille with Goat Cheese Polenta

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Serves

3-4

Ingredients

  •  2 medium size zucchini, sliced thinly
  • 2 medium size yellow squash sliced thinly
  • 2 chinese eggplant, sliced thinly
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup cooked polenta
  • 3 ounces goat cheese
  • 3 tablespoons salted European style butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil for finishing
  • crunchy sea salt for finishing

Sauce tomate maison (French equivalent to pomodoro)

  • 16 fresh roma tomatoes (or 28oz canned whole peeled tomatoes)
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic 1/4 cup water
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in 1/2

Steps

1

If you’re making the sauce from scratch start by scoring the tomatoes just enough to cut the skin. Place in boiling water for 3-4 mins or until the skins start to peel away. Remove to an ice bath or to a colander and run under cold water. Peel the skins and cut the core out. Cut in quarters and set aside. 

2

In a medium sized dutch oven, add olive oil and heat over medium high. Add in shallots and garlic and cook for 2 mins. Add in the tomatoes, water, salt. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking until tomatoes start to break down. Add in thyme and basil and cover. Reduce to low heat and cook on the stove top for 1 hour. 

3

Using a mandolin or sharp knife , slice the vegetables 1/8 inch thick. Lay them out in a single layer on paper towels and lightly season with salt. This helps draw out the moisture.

4

When the sauce is done cooking, add a thin layer of sauce to the bottom of a 8×8 baking dish or a small oval baking dish. Add the cherry tomatoes cut side down over the sauce (evenly arranged). 

5

Pat the veggies dry with a towel and start shingling them in groups of alternating squash, zucchini, eggplant and shallot slices. Form whatever pattern you like. Top with salt and Herbes de Provence. 

6

Bake in the oven for 45 mins to 1 hour, or until the sauce is bubbling up and the veggies are soft. Top with fresh ground black pepper and cover with foil while you cook the polenta.

7

Add 3 cups of water to a medium sauce pan (or any kind of broth or stock) and bring to a boil. Add in 1 cup of polenta (slowly) and stir constantly. Reduce heat to medium and continue stirring until the polenta starts to get thick. Once it reaches a thick but pourable consistency, turn the heat off and season with 1/2 tsp salt. Stir in the goat cheese and butter and continue stirring until both are melted and fully incorporated.

8

Serve immediately and top with ratatouille. Drizzle with olive oil and crunchy sea salt.

Summer’s bounty has never been more craveable.

I really cannot explain how much I love this ratatouille. I don’t know if it’s traditional or not, but that’s not something I am typically concerned with. I do believe this has a lot of flavors that you would find in a classic ratatouille (minus bell peppers). I like to use similar size diameters of all of the vegetables, including shallots. It ooks really pretty and organized when you form them in a concentric manner!

I personally feel that Herbes de Provence is underrated and exactly what this dish needs. Herby, tomato-y, veggie forward, and the garlic really comes through. The base is a French version of a fresh tomato sauce (similar to a pomodoro you would find in Italy) with the addition of thyme. 

This is your chance to really splurge on a great olive oil. I’m talking about one you would normally think is too expensive. You don’t have to use it throughout this dish but at least drizzle a heavy handed glug right before kissing the whole thing with a big pinch of crunchy sea salt. I think about making this at least 3-4 times during the late summer months when produce is really at its peak. I wait until I can find the brightest, verdant zucchini and day glow yellow squash. The eggplant must be deep purple, shiny and feel much heavier than it looks. I talk so much about how produce selection can really make a huge difference in the outcome of your meal, and this is probably the recipe where it matters even more so. If you’re making a main dish of vegetables alone, they must show up to play the lead role with bells on! 

Creamy, buttery polenta with a loads of goat cheese with the ratatouille is perfection. Try it with a glass of Côtes de Provence Blanc!