Ratatouille Pasta with Herb Sauce
This pasta dish is inspired by the Provençal "Ratatouille" - a vegetable summer stew containing among other ingredients zucchini, onions, and eggplant. Roasting these vegetables instead of stewing them concentrates their flavors. The tomatoes, herbs and garlic, which would ordinarily be stewed, are left uncooked here for maximum summertime flavor. We omit the bell peppers that are also seen in the classic stew, but we could have added roasted peeled peppers to the dish to be more "authentic". Nevertheless, the resulting dish is full of flavorful vegetables and the quick herb-oil sauce is similar to pesto —coating the spaghetti nicely. Originally served as part of: Ratatouille Kids.
Ingredients
- ½ pound spaghetti pasta
- 10 small from farmers' market, some with flowers attached zucchini
- 11 small from farmers' market eggplant
- 1 small from farmers' market onion
- 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (divided)
- salt & pepper
- 1 cup small, cherry tomatoes (rinsed and dried)
- ¼ cup fresh mix of basil, thyme, oregano herbs (rinsed and dried)
- ½ cup fresh, Italian leaf parsley (rinsed and dried)
- 1 clove garlic
- Pecorino romano cheese (Locatelli) (freshly grated)
Instructions
We start by preheating the oven to 400°. We put a large pot of water on the stove and begin heating it for the pasta. We get ready a large cookie sheet to roast the vegetables, covering it with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
We clean, trim and slice our zucchini and eggplants. The zucchini are very small and, when sliced, only yield a heaping ½ cup. The eggplants vary, some we just slice, and others we quarter to be the same size as the zucchini pieces. We have 2¼ cups of eggplant pieces. We reserve the zucchini and eggplant in a large bowl. We cut the ends off the onion and halve. Discarding the peels, we slice and add to the vegetable bowl. We toss the vegetables with 1 tablespoon of the oil and spread on the cookie sheet. We sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. We roast for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. We want the vegetables tender and caramelized.
While the vegetables roast, we halve the tomatoes and spread on a dinner plate. We season with salt and pepper. We put the cleaned herbs in a 1-cup glass measuring cup and add the remaining ¼ cup of oil. We smash the garlic clove with the side of our knife (carefully!) and discard the peel. We add the clove to the measuring cup. Using our immersion blender, we blend the herb oil, stopping to stir the mix with a spoon to get it nicely puréed. We season it with salt and pepper.
When the water is boiling and the roasted vegetables are at most 10 minutes from being ready, we add a pinch of salt along with the spaghetti to the water and stir. We cook according to the package directions. Before draining, we reserve ¼ cup of pasta cooking water.
When the vegetables are cooked, we remove them from the oven and put in a bowl. As soon as the pasta is al dente, we drain, put back in the pot, and toss with the herb oil, pasta cooking liquid, roasted vegetables, and tomatoes.
We serve with freshly grated Locatelli cheese.
Ingredients
- 10 small zucchini
- 11 small eggplants
- 1 small onion
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- coarse salt and black pepper
- 1 cup small cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup fresh basil, thyme and oregano (rinsed and dried)
- ½ cup fresh Italian parsley (rinsed and dried)
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (smashed and peeled)
- ½ lb spaghetti
- Pecorino Romano (Locatelli) (freshly grated)
Instructions
What's a kid job?
A Kid job is a step kids can help with, with a grown-up nearby, not one they do on their own. Every kid is different, so go by what your child can do rather than by age. Roughly:
- Little ones (about 2 to 4) can stir, pour in ingredients a grown-up has measured, tear lettuce, wash vegetables and sprinkle toppings.
- Older kids (about 5 to 8) can also measure and level, crack eggs, whisk, roll and cut out dough, and put things together.
- Bigger kids can read the recipe aloud, keep track of the timer, and take on more of the cooking as they're ready.
Steps with a knife, microplane, skewers, stove, oven, grill or hot oil, or with raw meat, poultry or seafood, are marked Grown-up. Kids can still watch those, from a safe distance.
Heat the oven to 400°F, put a large pot of water on for the pasta, and line a large cookie sheet with parchment.
Grown-up
Trim and slice the zucchini and eggplant into similar-sized pieces, and halve and slice the onion. Toss with the oil, spread on the cookie sheet, and season. Roast 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until tender and caramelized.
Kid job
Meanwhile, halve the tomatoes onto a plate and season them. Rinse and dry the herbs (wear an apron; it’s messy).
Put the herbs, oil and garlic in a 1-cup measuring cup and purée with an immersion blender, stirring as needed. Season.
When the vegetables have about 10 minutes left, salt the water and cook the spaghetti. Save ¼ cup of pasta water before draining.
Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and toss with the herb oil, pasta water, roasted vegetables and tomatoes. Serve with grated cheese.