French Ratatouille {cooked & raw}

reading time: ca. 3 min

Preparation time: 20 mins + cook time 30 mins
Main ingredients: zucchini, squash
difficulty level: easy
serves: 2-3
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, gluten-free, nut-free, paleo, raw food, and delicious "even so"

Remember the recipe for Greek Salad i made a while ago? just as that one, this is part of my Day Zero Project where i challenge myself to fulfil my dreams and resolutions in a reasonable time span (try it! so far it's working really well). 

One of the tasks being "Cook 5 meals from 5 different cultures", i thought it was time for another foreign cuisine: Nr 02 Ratatouille (France.)

Inspired by Pixar's adorable Ratatouille and their tidily layered ratatouille:

i remember watching the film for the first time and being absolutely fascinated by the way the ratatouille dish was presented in this neat colour spiral (in constrast to the common amost-too-soggy-bulk-of-veggies type of ratatouille, as seen below)

since this is a traditional Provençal dish i decided to go for the original cooked version, as well as the "rawified" raw vegan version. enjoy!

 
Ingredients

Base
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 eggplant // for raw version: 1 large carrot or an additional zucchini or squash !
1 red bell pepper or 2 large tomatoes *

Sauce
1 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced or pressed
1 cup tomatoe puree **
minced leaves of 2 springs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
2-3 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil
a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

also:
- a baking dish 


Instructions

#step 1: Preheat oven to 375 F. Cut all base ingredients into 1/2-inch thick circles. Arrange them in your baking dish, layering them in a circle outlining the dish, overlapping each seperate vegetable.

#step 2: For the sauce stir together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl, and pour it evenly on top of the vegetables. 

#step 3: Either bake it in the oven for around 35 minutes, and serve. **

#step 4: alternate ending:

Or, for the raw version: let it marinate. This is essential, since raw zucchini and squash are very firm and sort of savourless, so set aside for at least 15 mins to allow the veggies to take in the flavours of the sauce. Enjoy :)

Or as they say in France, of course: Bon appétit!

for the raw version, be sure to substitute the eggplant for a carrot for the raw version! i made the mistake to stick to the original ingredients, and boy does a raw eggplant taste disgusting. ****

* you can also use yellow, orange or green bell pepper instead. if you want to stick to the colour range of green/red/yellow, there are several options: 

a) green zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper or tomato

b) green zucchini, yellow bell pepper, red tomato

c) green bell pepper, yellow squash, red tomato

** i recommend making this yourself by blending about 4 or 5 tomatoes and adding a few sundried tomatoes, but if you chose to use canned puree, make sure to get pure puree with no added sugar or salt!

*** serve the finished ratatouille over couscous or polenta or soy/tofu burgers or sprinkled with soft goat cheese or with some crusty French baguette or just by itself : )

**** if you do want to include eggplant into your raw diet, let this marinate in olive oil or sauce for at least an hour! also i've heard it helps to sprinkle the eggplant slices with salt, set them aside for around 20 min, then wash off the salt. that step should be done before marinating.

 

If you are what you eat, then I only want to eat the good stuff. ~ Pixar's Ratatouille

5 meals from 5 different cultures:

1] Greek Salad (+ raw vegan Feta cheese)
2] French Ratatouille
3] Japanese Sushi (+ raw vegan Carrot hummus) 
4] Swedish Honey Buns
5] Russian Beet Soup (+ raw vegan Sour cream)

♥

Maisy

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