Oven Baked Ratatouille Fusilli

Dear Naomi

Well, here we are on the other side of Christmas; all that hullabaloo and preparation is now behind us for another year.

As you know, there wasn’t much hullabaloo at our house, as Covid arrived unbidden, just in time to wreck all of our carefully laid plans.  We were due to host family on Christmas Eve, as has become our tradition, but that of course went out the window.  Fortunately, I had organised for someone else to provide the bulk of the food, so it was just a question of reorganising venues.  Anyway, all was well, family jumped in and, I believe, a lovely day was had by all.  Ron tested negative so he was able to see his children and grandchildren; I stayed home with Rosie.

By Christmas Day we were both negative and so with great anticipation took ourselves out to lunch; we went to the recently opened Claribeaux French Restaurant on the Bellarine, and it was perfect.  Beautiful spaces, delicious food and wine, and a warm and happy room filled with friends and families, from babies to grandparents.

Now that I am on the mend, I can finally begin to think about food again; I lost my appetite this time ‘round, and for a frightening couple of days, thought my sense of taste and smell had gone (I find the thought of Anosmia utterly terrifying…) but it has now returned.

How fortunate that this week’s recipe is for Ratatouille, a fresh vibrant melange of the best of summer vegetables, simmering slowly with Greek spices and olive oil.  A lovely, reassuring dish, not least because I can smell all those tantalising aromas once again.

I roast the vegetables for my ratatouille; I’m sure many purists would be shocked, but I love those little sweet crispy edges vegetables get, especially when roasted in a hot oven in olive oil and a little salt.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
1 medium red or orange capsicum
1 red onion
1-2 cloves garlic to taste
1 400g can tomatoes
1 large or 2 smaller zucchini (green or yellow)
2 tablespoons cream
200g grated cheese – parmesan/sharp cheddar
¼ bunch chives
Salt
Pepper
Seasoning mix – I used a pre-prepared bbq rub with oregano, salt and marjoram)

To begin:

Preheat your oven to 180-200c (or pre-heat a barbecue)

Make the tomato base:
Dice the onion to 1-2cm size. 
Finely dice 1-2 cloves of garlic to your taste. 
Put two tablespoons of fragrant olive oil into a shallow pan and slowly brown the onions and garlic (this may take 15 minutes) you want them to slowly colour but not catch or burn.

Add 2 teaspoons sugar, some dried herbs (I used a Greek Seasoning blend) and the can of tomatoes.  It would be even better to use home-grown tomatoes of course but it’s been quite a slow summer so far. Turn down the heat and leave to bubble away quietly for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, adding a little water or stock if it becomes too thick.

Boil your pasta of choice; I used fusilli, but you could use penne, or farfalle, or any short pasta.  As the pasta will cook again in the oven, stop cooking and drain whilst still al dente; firmer than you would normally. (in my case 10 minutes as opposed to the 12-14 minutes recommended on the packet).

Chop the eggplant, zucchini and capsicum into 2-3 cm cubes. Place the eggplant into a bowl and toss with olive oil and spices.  Mix well.  Pour into a medium oven tray lined with baking parchment.

Place the zucchini and capsicum into another bowl and once again mix with oil and spices.  These vegetables will cook more quickly than the eggplant, so I roast them in a separate pan.

Roast vegetables, gently stirring them occasionally; you want them to brown evenly, start to caramelise on the edges and stay together.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse under cool water to stop it cooking, drain again and set aside.

Toss the drained pasta with the tomato sauce, then add about 2/3 of the grated cheese, cream and chopped chives.  Mix gently but well and tip into your oven dish.  Spread out evenly, mix remaining cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top. Thinly slice the mozzarella (if using) and dot over the top.  **

Bake at 180c for around 40 minutes until golden and bubbling.

** Note:  you can prepare the dish to this stage and store in the fridge for 1-2 days if you prefer.

And that, my dear friend, brings me to the end of this week’s letter, with grateful thanks for Claire for her heartfelt letter and recipe.  As it’s now late in the afternoon, and the need for a Covid Nanna nap is creeping up, I’m glad dinner’s ready!

All the best, as always,
Melanie x