FRENCH RATATOUILLE RECIPES RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare the vegetables: Smash and peel 3 garlic cloves, reserving the 4th. Halve onions through their roots, and slice halves into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Slice zucchini into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Cut eggplant into 1-inch cubes or spears. Seed peppers, and cut them into 1/4-inch-thick strips.
• Spread each vegetable on a separate rimmed baking sheet (use extra sheets as necessary). Add the 3 cloves of smashed garlic to the onion pan. Add 1 sprig rosemary and 2 sprigs thyme to each of the pepper, eggplant and zucchini pans. Sprinkle salt lightly over vegetables. Drizzle 3 tablespoons olive oil on each of the pans.
• Place all the pans in the oven (or work in batches if they don’t fit at once). Cook until vegetables are very tender and lightly browned at the edges. This will take about 35 to 40 minutes for the peppers (their skins should shrivel), 40 to 45 minutes for the eggplant and zucchini (the eggplant should crisp slightly and the zucchini should be well cooked, so let them go 3 to 5 minutes longer than you normally might), and 60 to 65 minutes for the onions. Don’t worry about the vegetables being pretty; they will meld into the ratatouille. Shake or stir the pans every 15 to 20 minutes or so, especially the onions.
• In the meantime, prepare the tomatoes: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add tomatoes and blanch until the skins split, about 10 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to quickly transfer the tomatoes to a bowl filled with ice water.
• Using a paring knife, peel the cooled tomatoes (the skins should slip right off). Halve tomatoes across their equators. Set a sieve over a bowl. Working over the bowl, use your fingers to seed the tomatoes, letting the seeds catch in the sieve and the juice run into the bowl. Discard seeds but save juices. Dice tomatoes and add to the reserved juices in bowl.
• Finely grate or mince remaining garlic clove. Add garlic to tomatoes along with bay leaves and a large pinch of salt. Set aside.
• Once vegetables are done cooking, combine them on one baking sheet or a large shallow baking dish and add ingredients from tomato bowl. Toss well. Vegetables will be stacked, and that’s O.K. Cover generously with olive oil, using remaining ¼ cup oil or more, and sprinkle with salt. Everything should have a good coat of oil, but should not be drowning in it. Cook at least 1 hour, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are very tender and imbued with juices and oil. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve warm, or let cool.

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and briefly fry 8 basil leaves just for a moment until they crisp up, then lift out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
• Bring a large pan of water to the boil and get a bowl of iced water ready. Blanch the remaining basil leaves for 5 secs. Using a pair of tongs, lift out the leaves and plunge them into iced water so that they cool quickly and keep their colour.
• Once cool, lift the leaves out and squeeze to remove any excess water.
• Add the blanched basil leaves to a food blender and pour in 60ml of olive oil. to a pourable sauce, adding more oil if needed, then put in a bowl and set aside.
• For the ratatouille, halve the pepper, then deseed and slice into thin strips. Cut the courgette into quarters lengthways and slice. Slice the aubergine into thick rounds, then cut each one into strips.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the cumin and garlic, and cook for 30 secs. Tip all the veg into the pan, season and sweat for 1 min. Add 100ml water and cook on a high heat for 4 mins. Adjust the seasoning, adding the sugar if needed.
• With a sharp knife, score each fish fillet with small slits through the skin at regular intervals.
• To cook the fish, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan until hot. Season the fillets and place, skin-side down, in the pan. Cook until the skin is golden and crisp, and the flesh is changing colour.
• Turn the fillets over and cook for 1 min, remove from the heat, then sprinkle over the lemon juice. Divide the ratatouille between the plates and top with the sea bass. Drizzle with basil oil, a little extra virgin olive oil and serve with crisp basil leaves.