First Official Day of School - Ratatouille

Okay so today was my first official day of School. Uniformed with new knives in  hand. Today was the start of our Vegetable module. I can't believe how much I have already learned. Now to the fun part!

Today I made my first ever Ratatouille.  The recipe is below. I am not a hug fan of the combination of vegetables but the first bite really was delish!. I forgot to take picture before I plated it for the Chef so here is a picture I took once I got home.

I looked so much better before I cut it apart. So I am not a huge tomato person either but I did appreciate how great it would be for someone that does like tomatoes. The goat cheese on the top was an unexpected perfect match for the dish.


I had so much fun in the kitchen today. It is wonderful using industrial equipment and having everything available. I am thankful that ( I feel) that my kitchen is pretty close to what a professional chef would want in their home. Not just equipment wise, which anyone who has been in my home knows I have almost everything a chef could want, but also the way I stock it. So right now I need to clean my house and get ready for dinner. Here is the recipe!

Keep in mind that this is my version of a Ratatouille and not the original recipe.

1 cup crushed tomatoes    1/4 onion              3 garlic cloves                   2 Tbs olive oil
salt and pepper                  Paprika                   garlic powder                    onion powder
red chili pepper flakes       2 tomatoes             1 smaller eggplant             1 thin long bell pepper
Zucchini                               mushrooms             goat cheese                      fresh thyme
fresh rosemary             



I placed a little over a cup of crushed tomatoes into a baking dish.  added the diced onion, 3 sliced garlic cloves, 1 Tbs olive oil, salt and pepper. I took it upon myself to add in some paprika, finely diced red pepper and some red chili pepper flakes to the sauce. I also added a few pinches of garlic and onion powder. Mix this all together. Remember that it doesn't take a lot of pepper flakes to make the meal to spicy.

Slice the eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini about 1/16th of an inch thick. Cut the top and bottom off of the bell pepper and carefully remove seeds, leaving a tube, slice thinly. If the mushrooms are large enough to layers with the other veggies then slice them. If you have small mushrooms you can dice the mushrooms.

Layer the veggies in any order you like around the dish. Season the layered veggies with salt and pepper. I also sprinkled lightly with paprika. I then took my diced  mushrooms and filled the whole in the center of the circle of veggies. Drizzle lightly with oil and sprinkle with chopped leaves of thyme and rosemary, cover and baked 45-55 minutes at 375. Garnish with goat cheese. I like to put my goat cheese on about 5 minutes before it is done and finish cooking it with the goat cheese.