Summertime….. and the living is easy… as they say. Except that here in Paris, it’s barely been summer-like weather. But no matter, this week’s JC100 recipe – Ratatouille – was perfect for those of us cooking in cooler conditions than those of you sweltering back home on the east coast. Ratatouille can be comfort food or it can be a sweet summer side dish, served cold. It’s one of my favourite vegetable dishes, that’s for sure. I have a favourite recipe for it already so I was interested to try Julia’s version.
Like other good ratatouille recipes, this one has you cooking your vegetables at different stages (to avoid the mush factor) and Julia layers the veggies after they are partly cooked so that each vegetable infuses the others with its flavour. Neat concept and it worked. I made this as a side dish earlier in the week for friends but have since enjoyed it just on its own. In fact, summer DID appear fleetingly yesterday so a glass of rosé seemed an appropriate accompaniment.
Julia Child's ratatouille. Excerpted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. Copyright © 1961 by Alfred A. Knopf. Reprinted with permission from the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.Ratatouille
Ingredients
Instructions
This looks like a lot of steps but it’s not really. Once you have the idea, it’s a cinch to put together. Bringing a little bit of summer to a grey evening.
* Culinary icon Julia Child would have turned 100 years old on August 15th of this year. To honor her, the folks at YC Media and Random House/ Alfred A. Knopf are launching the JC100: an international campaign involving restaurants, chefs, bookstores, and bloggers, all celebrating Julia and her legacy. Their goal is to raise one million voices in tribute to Julia, and I am honoured to participate!
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I love how your pieces are nice and thick! This definitely makes for a great summer dish… even if it’s not summer like out. 😉
Indeed! And the thick pieces were new to me but I liked them!
How perfect to be cooking her recipes in Paris! Looks beautiful. I like how she layers the vegetables. Like you said, it’s a few more steps, but definitely worth it. By the way, we really are sweltering in the heat back in Canada (felt like 45C yesterday!)
Yes the layering was a great technique!
The ratatouille looks very fresh and light, just like Julia’s. Thanks for sharing…
I’m glad it looks like Julia’s since it’s her recipe LOL!
This is one of my all time favorite dishes 🙂 Love this!
Isn’t it the best?
oh wow this looks good. Too hot here for me to think about cooking vegetables but I can’t wait to try it come fall
Yeah, a great fall dish!
Hmmm, I love the photos! Looks so good Mardi. Makes me want to do Julia’s ratatouille again this weekend.
It’s become my favourite version of this dish!
I love the Cezanne bowl.
Have to say, sweltering here and with no time to cook, am starting to despise seeing these blog entries…
Sort of. 🙂
That looks so yummy and easy. I’ll try it tonight. Thanks!
Just the other day, Darron and I were discussing the components of ratatouille (don’t ask)… And, I’ve been wanting to make it ever since. I think I will put this version on the menu this week 🙂
It’s a great version!
It will be fun to try this layering technique. Our vegetables are just wonderful right now. Oh, Julia was the “it” girl, wasn’t she.
Indeed. And the layering technique works a treat.