Sunny ratatouille ricotta starter

Ratatouille is the ultimate Southern French summer side dish. It’s important to cook each vegetable separately and combine them only at the very end – otherwise you will end up with a goopy watery stew, which you definitely want to avoid. Because it is a little time-consuming, I usually make a big batch and use the leftovers to create starters with a Provençal accent. In this recipe however, I’ve included a quicker version of traditional ratatouille and used it to top creamy ricotta cheese – it also works wonderfully with an 80/20 mix of fresh chèvre and crème fraîche. Bon appétit!

Makes 4

Ingredients

• 6-7 tbsp good quality olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion or 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 2 small local courgettes or 1/2 big one, diced
• 1/2 eggplant, diced
• 2 big red Roma tomatoes (or any other very red tomato)
• 2 tbsp herbes de Provence
• 1/4 cup of slivered basil
• 4 anchovy fillets
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F
2. Place the tomato halves on a cookie sheet, add salt, pepper and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Put in oven for 25-30 minutes. Once caramelized and slightly dried up, set aside on a plate.
3. Sauté the onion and garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan until translucent, about a minute on medium heat.
4. Add bell peppers and sauté for another 10 minutes until cooked but still firm. Set aside to cool on a plate.
5. Take the same pan and add the drained eggplant and courgettes over medium/high heat. Sauté for a good 10 minutes to “dry” them, making sure to scrape the pan with a wooden spoon so that they don’t stick to the bottom.
6. When courgettes and eggplant are cooked through and slightly browned, add 2 tbsp olive oil and sauté for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
7. In a large bowl, toss the roasted tomatoes, bell peppers, courgette and the eggplant mixture together.
8. Add herbes de Provence. Adjust salt and pepper seasoning if necessary. Place the vegetables covered in the fridge until ready to use.
9. Put ricotta in a small bowl and mix it up until it’s light and creamy. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste.
10. On each serving plate, place a heaping tbsp of ricotta and spread it into the shape of a circle in the middle of the plate. Top with a few spoons of the vegetable mixture, basil and an anchovy fillet. Drizzle with olive oil.