Ratatouille with Ravioli

A while ago I gave my sweet friend Camille some eggplant and she told me she made Ratatouille Pasta with it. She showed me the recipes she used, and described how she did it and I filed that thought away for a day when I had eggplant and a little time to cook it. I don’t recall what type of pasta she said she used, but I thought this mini-ravioli that I have would be just perfect with Ratatouille.

And yeah, it was.

I found a little history on Ratatouille:

“The word Ratatouille actually comes from the french term “touiller,” which means to toss food. Ratatouille originated in the area around present day Nice. It was originally a meal made by poor farmers (in essence it started out life as a peasant dish), and was prepared in the summer with fresh summer vegetables.

The original and simplest form of Ratatouille used only courgettes (zucchini), tomatoes, green and red peppers (bell peppers), onions, and garlic.  Today aubergine (eggplant) is usually added to the list of ingredients.”

source: http://ratatouille.weebly.com/index.html

Ratatouille with Ravioli

Some people consider Ratatouille as a side dish, but I think serving it like this definitely elevates it to “main course” status.

• 1 t. olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 c. chopped eggplant
• 1 1/2 c. chopped summer squash or zucchini
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 quart canned tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• Several sprigs of fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 t. dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• Fresh or frozen mini cheese ravioli (or your favorite pasta!), cooked. I think this would be lovely with bowtie pasta, cavatappi or tortellini
• Shredded Mozzarella or Italian Blend cheese
• Chopped cherry tomatoes for garnish

Directions:

1. Spray a frying pan with cooking spray, then heat over med-high heat on stove till the pan begins to warm. Swirl the olive oil around in the hot pan, then add the onion and sautee for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the eggplant, summer squash, garlic and bell pepper and sautee for about 3 minutes longer.
3. Add the tomatoes in their juices, crushing them with your hand as you add them if you have large chunks of tomato.
4. Go rinse the tomato mess off your hands.
5. Add the bay leaves and thyme and reduce heat to medium. Cook gently, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes longer.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Now, you can enjoy the Ratatouille just like this … but to make the beautiful cheesy ravioli casserole, toss the cooked ravioli with a good amount of the Ratatouille in a casserole dish or oven-safe bowl and sprinkle with shredded cheese, and then bake at 350 until the cheese is all melty–I think I cooked my bowl for about 15 minutes or so.

Another way I discovered that I really love to eat this Ratatouille is on a bed of Jasmine rice, sprinkled with feta cheese, like this:

This recipe was shared at Katherine Martinelli’s Pasta Blog Hop.