Thursday, September 1, 2011

Ratatouille for Lunch and Dinner

We're in the home stretch with the garden. This week I have a pile of zucchini, green peppers, purple pixie eggplants and a few tomatoes staring at me.




For lunch I made a quick ratatouille, which is basically a stir-fry of summer squashes, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and onions. Drizzle a little olive oil in your saute pan, add some chopped onions, crushed garlic, sliced green peppers, diced zucchini, summer squash and chopped tomatoes (I peeled them). Cook over medium heat until the veggies are tender. I like to cover the pan so it gets a little more juicy. Alternatively, you could place all these ingredients in a roasting pan, or casserole dish, and cook at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with a little fresh basil, salt and pepper to taste, then serve. This is the first year we've had the pixie eggplants. You can leave the skin on as it's quite tender, and I love the flavor. They seem to be less acidic than the larger purple ones.


For dinner I recycled the leftover ratatouille into a simple gluten-free pizza.  For the base use Trader Joe's brown rice tortillas, which you'll find on their handy no-gluten product list. If you have a cast iron pizza pan, or pizza stone, heat that in a 400 degree oven. Spread a thin layer of olive oil on the tortilla then flip it over. Add ratatouille and any other veggies you'd like. I added some steamed broccoli. Sprinkle with a little grated cheese, my favorite is Pecorino Romano, and then add shredded mozzarella, or whatever cheese you have on hand. I used cheddar. Place in the oven on your skillet or stone. You can also use a baking sheet if you don't have either of those.


Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. The oil on the bottom will give it a nice crispy crunch. Personally, I like a white pizza (no tomato sauce), but feel free to try it with sauce. The tortilla makes a nice thin crust which I happen to adore. It's an easy solution to making a gluten-free pizza that tastes delicious. Consider getting a pizza paddle, if you don't already have one. It's the safest way to get the pizza in and out of the oven, plus you'll look like a pro!


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