Ratatouille Pasta w/ Grilled Steak
This week’s Oddbox contained all the ingredients for a Provencal classic recipe: courgette and aubergine (for my American friends that would be zucchini and eggplant) as well as tomatoes. Plus, I had a random red pepper in the refrigerator. So what am I cooking?
You’ve guessed right! With all these glorious summer vegetables, I’m turning my Oddbox ingredients to a delicious ratatouille. Typically eaten as a simple garlicky vegetable stew in Provence served with crusty bread alongside a simple main such as slow-roasted fish or rotisserie chicken. I haven’t made a classic ratatouille in years, probably since our last trip to Provence with my family in 2018.
My toddler is going through “I want pasta” for breakfast, lunch, and dinner phase. Yes, the demands of toddler life, and not to mention a major growth spurt. To make this super kid-friendly, I added pasta to this otherwise classic ratatouille recipe so we have some carbs to soak up the juicy ragout. Then I grilled up some steaks for the adults for some protein, followed by a gooseberry crumble for dessert.
Tips:
- Batch Cook: When working with aubergine, it does take a bit of prep work and sole attention. As busy parents, who has time to work in an extra 30-40 minutes of prep time for dinner? I would suggest making ratatouille as a big Sunday batch-cooking which can be used as a base or side dish for the rest of the week. It’s a great way to get those veggies into your daily diet.
- Salt and Drain: Add 1 tsp of salt and let it sit for 30-45 minutes in a colander to draw out the bitter liquid before cooking. Because aubergine has a spongy flesh with tiny air pockets, it can absorb a lot of oil making your dish greasy. You don’t want this light summery stew to be heavy so I’d highly recommend this step.
- Browning: When cooked properly, aubergine will have a custard-like creamy texture otherwise it can be too mushy or greasy. If it’s undercooked, it’s a bit tough and doesn’t have the same texture of the perfectly cooked aubergine. Take care in browning the aubergine over high heat, in batches if required.
Ratatouille Pasta w/ Grilled Steak
Ingredients
Ratatouille Pasta
- 1 large Italian aubergine
- Kosher salt
- 1 large red bell peppers
- 1 large courgette
- 2 medium onions
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- 1 lemon
- 1 cup Parmesan
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup capers
- ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes optional
- 1 lb. pasta such as fusilli, penne, or cavatappi
- 1½ cups basil leaves
Grilled Steak
- 2 sirloin steaks 140g/5oz each
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
Ratatouille Pasta
- Prep the aubergine: Cut the aubergine into ½ inch pieces. Transfer to a colander set over a medium bowl and sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt. Let sit 30 minutes to allow the aubergine to release some brownish liquid. After 30 minutes, squeeze the aubergine to remove excess moisture.
- Chop the red bell peppers, courgette, onions into 1 inch chunks. Place all ingredients into a bowl and set aside.
- Halve the cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped the garlic and transfer to a bowl. Add juice of half a lemon. Set aside.
- Heat 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Once sizzling hot, working in batches, add half of the aubergine. Cook stirring every 3-4 minutes to ensure all sides are nicely browned and golden. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a plate. Repeat this step with the remaining aubergine.
- Heat ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high. Add ¼ cup capers and ½ tsp. red pepper flakes (optional). Cook, stirring, until bubbling subsides, about 30–60 seconds.
- Over medium to high heat, add the red bell pepper, courgette, and onions, season with 1½ tsp. salt, and cook, stirring frequently, scraping bottom of pan, cook until vegetables are softened, 12–15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water when ready to add the aubergine to the pot. Boil to the pasta until al dense. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water. Then drain pasta in a colander.
- Add tomato-garlic mixture to sauce, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until almost all tomatoes have burst and vegetables, about 10 minutes.
- Return aubergine to pot and cook until vegetables are tender about 5 more minutes. Taste and season with salt.
- Reduce heat over sauce to low. Add drained pasta and stir to coat in sauce. Add 1 cup Parmesan, pour ½ cup pasta cooking liquid over, then stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Add more pasta cooking liquid as necessary if pasta starts to stiffen. Remove from heat. Add juice from the other half of the lemon over. Add 1½ cups basil. Taste for salt and pepper.
Grilled Steak
- Heat grill to high. Season the steaks with salt and pepper on each side
- Sear for 1 min on each side for rare, 1½ mins for medium or 2½ mins for well done.
- Remove and leave to rest.
Notes
