Ratatouille

By LeeBoruchow

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 2 tbs[ olive oil, divided
• 1 eggplant, thinly sliced to 1/16" thick circles
• 1 zucchini, thinly sliced to 1/16" thick circles
• 1 yellow squash, thinly sliced to 1/16" thick circles
• 1 long red bell pepper, thinly sliced to 1/16" thick rings
• Few sprigs fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper
• Few tablespoons soft goat cheese, for serving

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Pour tomato puree into bottom of an oval baking dish, approximately 10 inches across the long way. Drop the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce, stir in one tablespoon of the olive oil and season the sauce generously with salt and pepper.

Atop the tomato sauce, arrange slices of prepared vegetables concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables. You may have a handful leftover that do not fit.

Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper or foil cut to fit inside.

Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.

Serve with a dab of soft goat cheese on top.