With Summer around the corner, I am anxiously awaiting my first visits to local farmer’s markets. If you’ve been following us for a while, you know I’m always looking for ways to squeeze more veggies into the meals I prepare for us. Like many recipes with roots in the Mediterranean, ratatouille certainly does that! The shelf life for the vegetables used in this dish is pretty good also making it a hit for RV cooking.
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What is ratatouille?
Ratatouille isn’t just a movie about a rat who loves food. It’s a French Provencal stewed vegetable dish with lots of iterations of it. It usually includes onion, garlic, eggplant, zucchini, tomato, bell pepper, and green herbs from the region. Sometimes painstakingly prepared by slicing these vegetables with a mandoline and then layering them in a casserole dish. This version eliminates these efforts, resulting in a rustic version with all of the same flavors one that’s better suited as a sauce for the pasta and fish.
What to serve with ratatouille?
The dish’s origin had me thinking about fish, pasta, olives, and crusty French bread. This recipe incorporates fish, pasta, and olives. If you prefer, you can eliminate the pasta and enjoy it with some fresh bread. The crustier, the better. 😉
Since I’m not always a fan of leftover fish and there are just two of us, I chose to cook just two fish filets for us, which I served on top of some fresh pappardelle pasta. The leftover sauce and pasta worked out well for lunch the next day sprinkled with some fresh parmesan cheese.
What can you substitute for halibut?
Living in a motorhome full-time, we’re not always near the coast to buy fresh fish. In fact, we often find ourselves in small towns hundreds of miles away from the closest major airport, let alone the closest ocean. I stock up with a bag or two of individually wrapped frozen fish filets from Costco before heading to more remote destinations. Cod, halibut, and mahi-mahi are my favorites to buy. Any of these three will work well in this pasta ratatouille recipe. Their mild flavor and firm texture make them very versatile. With these quick-to-thaw pieces of fish, I can easily have dinner on the table in a short amount of time.
If you don’t prefer fish, you can easily omit it for a vegan/vegetarian version or substitute shrimp or chicken for the fish filets adjusting the cooking time as needed.
What wine to serve with ratatouille?
If you love to travel and explore an area’s culture through food and wine as we do, you know that the wine made in an area is often the best-matched for the food from the same area. It’s no mistake that the little French country bistro that you ate in served house wine that went perfectly with the dish they served. Since traditional French ratatouille comes from the Provence area of France, wines from this area or wines made from the grapes originally from this area are probably your best bet. With summer on my brain, a dry French Rose worked well for us, but if you prefer red wine, you might try a Cotes du Rhone or an un-oaked Grenache-based wine.
Quick One-Pot Ratatouille Pasta with Poached Fish
This recipe combines all of the great flavors of a delicious traditional French ratatouille with a perfectly cooked filet of fish. And it's easily adapted to be vegetarian or to swap out the protein for shirmp or chicken.
- Large High-Sided Skillet
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil (extra virgin)
- 1 large Yellow Onion (halved, sliced)
- 4 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 1 tbsp Thyme (fresh chopped (1/2 tbsp dry))
- 1 tbsp Rosemary (fresh chopped (1/2 tbsp dry))
- 1 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)
- 1 small Eggplant (peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes)
- 2 small Zucchini (cut in 1/2 inch cubes)
- 28 ounce Whole Peeled Tomatoes (preferably San Marzano, hand crushed)
- 20 each Dry Cured Olives
- 4 6-ounce Halibut Filets (fresh or frozen thawed)
- 1/2 cup Parsley (chopped (optional))
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 10 ounces Pappardelle Pasta (cooked, )
Heat olive oil in large high-sided skillet over medium high heat.
Add onions and sautee until beginning to soften (about 5 minutes).
Add garlic, thyme, rosemary, and sautee for about 30 seconds.
Add chopped red bell pepper, eggplant, zucchini, a good sprinkle of Kosher salt, and black pepper, and saute stirring frequently until beginning to soften (about 10 minutes)
Add tomatoes crushing by hand as you add to the pan.
Add olives.
Stir together and allow to come to a boil.
Lower heat to a slow simmer and cook for about 20-30 minutes.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Carefully place fish in the pan covering with sauce as you go.
Allow the fish to cook for about 6-8 minutes.
Plate pasta with one filet and 1/4 of the sauce per person and topped with fresh parsley if using.
This recipe is delicious with or without the fish. We enjoyed it served on a bed of fresh pappardelle pasta.
