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Ingredients
- For ratatouille Recipe:
- 4 large frying or bell peppers
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- Salt and pepper
- 3 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 10-ounce package chopped frozen spinach, defrosted and drained well
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 cups grated Fontina or young Asiago cheese
- 1/2 cup grated Parm cheese
- 4 cups ratatouille, warmed
- 2 firm, medium eggplant, peel half the skin off then dice into bite-sized pieces
- Salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 rounded tablespoon Herbes de Provence, a palmful
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 4 large cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 3 medium zucchini, about 2 pounds, seeded and diced into bite-sized pieces
- 2 red bell or mild frying peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 32-ounce can plum tomatoes, crushed by hand
- A few leaves of basil, torn
- 1/4 cup, a fat handful, chopped flat-leaf parsley
Preparation
Step 1
Heat oven to 425°F.
Halve the peppers and seed them. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper, roast to tender, about 15-20 minutes.
Combine the ricotta, spinach, egg, salt and pepper. Divide the mixture among the pepper halves.
Fill peppers with ratatouille and top with Fontina and parm cheeses. Bake until brown and bubbly then serve.
For ratatouille Recipe:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Salt and drain the eggplant on a kitchen towel for about 20 minutes; pat dry.
Heat oil, 4 turns of the pan, in large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add dried herbs and stir then add onions, garlic, bay leaves and season with a little salt and some black pepper. Cook, partially covered, 10 minutes to soften. Add vegetable stock, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, tomatoes and their juices, basil and parsley. Stir to combine, cover and transfer pot to oven to roast 30 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes or so. Uncover pot, stir again and roast 30 minutes more. Turn off oven and let stand 20 minutes more. Serve or cool and store. Remove bay leaves before serving.