But I so wanted to get it, to enjoy it too. I was not ready to give up on it just yet. I couldn't understand why so many people waxed poetic about it. I wanted to be able to do the same.
And so I kept with it, persistently. Periodically trying a new recipe to see if I might not come up with something that I enjoyed. I so wanted to be able to taste what it was that other people were tasting.
A few weeks back I saw a video on Tasty for what looked like a really pretty ratatouille. It was composed of a sauce that was cooked first on top of the stove and then layered in a dish.
Next they added layers of thinly sliced rounds of vegetables to the top. They were arranged so prettily. It looked like a picture.
They drizzled a basil oil over top and then covered it tightly and baked it, until the vegetables were meltingly tender. It looked quite promising.
This week I added all of the vegetables to my grocery order so that I could make it. I bought myself some fresh yellow and green courgettes (zucchini) and ripe roma tomatoes. I also bought some baby aubergine (eggplant).
I did not want to make a full recipe, as I knew it would be far too much for us to conceivably eat. We do not have the appetites these days that we used to have in the old days.
Instead of their suggested topping for the vegetables I created one of my own using basil pesto, olive oil and a splash of Balsamic vinegar. I cannot think of anything that doesn't taste much better when having added a bit of Balsamic vinegar to it.
It looked as pretty as a picture before it went into the oven. I was so pleased with how it looked. I was almost dancing around the room. If this tasted even half as good when done as it looked before baking, we were in for a real treat!
I envisioned this beautiful pie dish of ratatouille coming from the oven. We eat first with our eyes after all, and it did smell quite lovely when it was baking.
Hmmm . . . it came out looking a bit like a dog's dinner I am sad to say. LOL I had to laugh when I saw it. Where was the visual appeal?
Anyways, I dutifully scattered some fresh basil over top and took some photos. If I am honest, and I always am, I wasn't feeling very hopeful.
To say I was more than a tad bit disappointed in how it looked is a bit of an understatement. The proof of the pudding is in the eating however, so I was reserving my judgement for that.
Even though there was a huge part of me that was thinking that if this looked this nasty, then it was going to taste nasty also. Admittedly it looked quite a bit better once I broke through and spooned some of it onto a plate.
But how would it taste . . . I held my breath. I had some lovely fresh French Bread that I had been saving to dip into it when it was done.
Admittedly, I hate to waste food. Fresh vegetables are somewhat expensive, even at this time of year when they are plentiful. If you don't have a garden, you are at the mercy of the shops.
I have to say the fresh veg I have been getting from Ocado have been really nice. They cost a bit more than Asda, but quality speaks for itself, and I have been more than happy with everything. They have now partnered with M&S and M&S is quality.
I spooned some out onto the plate. It didn't look half bad. It smelled gorgeous if I don't say so myself. I was feeling rather hopeful.
I had my crusty bread at the ready. Was I going to be happy? Was I finally going to see why people wax lyrical about Ratatouille?
I was pleasantly surprised just by what it looked like spooned onto my plate. It actually looked so good that my tastebuds started to tingle . . .
It was filled with colour and texture. It smelled amazing. I was beginning to be hopeful.
I spooned some onto my bread. I did not butter the bread. I did not want my palate for the ratatouille spoiled by my love of butter. I wanted to try it completely unadulterated . . .
I did toy with the idea of toasting my bread, but in the end, I left it in its natural crusty state. I am happy that I did.
This was amazingly delicious! I was really pleased. The zucchini and the eggplant were properly tender. The tomatoes melted in the mouth . . .
There was none of the bitterness that you can sometimes get from both zucchini and eggplant. Both were somewhat buttery, almost sweet and somewhat indulgent.
The flavour of the sauce that was on the bottom perfectly enhanced and had flavoured everything. The pesto/balsamic mixture I had sprinkled on top had done its job perfectly.
The crusty bread was perfect without butter. It did a beautiful job of mopping everything up. I did what I had not done in a very long time. I went in for seconds.
Baked Ratatouille for Two
Ingredients:
- 1 14-oz (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
- 1/2 small red bell pepper, trimmed and chopped
- 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 6 basil leaves chopped
- 1 medium green zucchini (courgette) thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
- 1 medium yellow zucchini (courgette) thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
- 1 very small egg plant (aubergine), trimmed and thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
- 2 roma tomatoes, cored and thinly sliced, 1/8 inch thick
- fine sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 TBS basil pesto
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- torn basil leaves to garnish
- crusty French bread to serve
Instructions:
- Begin by making the sauce. Add the oil to a saucepan. Add the peppers, onions and garlic. Sweat over medium heat, stirring frequently for 4 to 5 minutes until tender. Add the tomatoes and seasonings. Simmer for about 15 minutes until nicely thickened. (This is important as the vegetables will give out more liquid in the oven and you don't want them to dilute the sauce too much.) Pour into an 8 inch pie dish, smoothing over the top. Place on a baking tray.
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.
- Arrrange the sliced vegetables decoratively over top of the tomato sauce, pushing them down into it a bit.
- Whisk together the pesto, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle this over top of the vegetables in the baking dish. Cover tightly with aluminium foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until the vegetables are meltingly tender.
- Serve warm or at room temperature, garnish with fresh basil and with some fresh French bread to help mop all of it up. Delicious!
notes:
I am really pleased that I decided not to give up on ratatouille. If you have never tried it before, I really hope that you will. Especially now when we have an abundance of fresh zucchini and tomatoes to work with! Thanks so much for visiting. Do come
At the weekend I like to pull out the stops a bit and make my husband a delicious dessert. We only ever very rarely eat dessert the rest of the week. If we do have anything at all it will be pots of yogurt or once in a blue moon a sneaky mini-magnum bar or a two finger kitkat.
This weekend I had some stale brioche bread that I wanted to use up and so I decided to make a small batch bread pudding, perfectly sized just for two. Sweet Almond Bread Pudding. And I made a sauce to serve with it as well, a blackberry sauce. Two generous servings of decadent deliciousness.
The custard is then divided between the two ramekins. You must press the bread down into the custard until it is covered, then you play a bit of a waiting game while the bread absorbs that rich custard.
While they are baking you can make your blackberry sauce. If you haven't got blackberries, feel free to substitute raspberries in their place. They will be just as delicious. Another name for the sauce is a berry coulis.
Its lovely, not too sweet, but slightly tart and coloured like a jewel. I tried to be a bit fancy and spread some beneath the puddings in a pattern before I set the puddings on top. That only lasted until I popped the puddings onto the pattern. Oh well . . . best laid plans and all that.
Sweet Almond Bread Pudding with Blackberry Sauce
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces of stale Brioche, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 1 heaped cup)
- 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream
- 6 TBS granulated sugar
- 2 large free range egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 2 TBS flaked almonds
- 1 tsp finely granulated sugar
- 2 cups (170g) of blackberries, fresh or frozen
- 1/3 cup (65g) sugar
- 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter two (8 ounce) glass baking ramekins really well. Set aside.
- Cut the bread into 1 inch cubes. Place onto a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove.
- Heat the cream with half of the sugar just until bubbles appear around the edges and it is steaming. Do not allow to boil. Keep warm.
- Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and extracts until smooth. Slowly whisk in the warm cream mixture a little bit at a time to temper the eggs. Once the eggs have heated you can just whisk in the remainder of the cream.
- Divide the bread cubes between both ramekins. Strain half of the custard over each ramekin and lightly press down so that the bread is soaking. Leave to soak for 20 minutes.
- At the end of that time put the ramekins into a baking dish with sides, large enough to hold both of them. Sprinkle the top of each with 1 TBS of flaked almonds and half the sugar.
- Fill the baking dish to halfway up the sides of the ramekins with boiling water.
- Place into the oven and bake for one hour, or until the custard is set.
- While the puddings are baking make the sauce. Put the blackberries into a saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer. Leave to simmer for 2 minutes. Blitz until smooth with an immersion blender. (or a regular blender) Strain through a sieve.
- Unmold the warm puddings onto a dessert plate and drizzle some of the sauce over top. Refrigerate any leftovers.
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Chocolate Box Bread Pudding for two
Ingredients:
- 2 TBS butter, melted plus extra to butter cups
- 3 croissants, torn into 1-inch pieces
- 1 large free range egg
- 2 TBS caster sugar
- 120ml cream (1/2 cup)
- 60ml whole milk (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 6 leftover chocolates (four toffee fudge ones and two caramel barrels)
- 1 tsp demerara sugar
- pouring cream, clotted cream, ice cream, custard sauce
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter two (6-oz) tea or coffee cups really well. Place onto a small baking tray.
- Measure out about 1/2 cup of the croissant cubes and tear into smaller bits and toss together with the melted butter in a small bowl and set aside.
- Cut the fudge chocolates into small bits.
- Whisk the egg together in a bowl along with the caster sugar until the sugar dissolves. (Caster sugar is a fine granulated sugar.)Whisk in the cream, milk and vanilla. Add the cubed croissants and fold in the fudge chocolate bits. Let stand for fifteen minutes. Divide this mixture between the two buttered cups.
- Press a caramel barrel chocolate down into the centre of each pudding. Top with the buttered croissant pieces, piling them over the chocolate to cover completely. Sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp of demerara sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes until puffed and golden brown. The pudding should be set. Serve warm with pouring cream, clotted cream, ice cream, or custard sauce.
notes:
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