A quick wander round the polytunnel and veg patch has revealed that is s time for ratatouille:
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| Tomatoes are ripening |
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| Aubergines are swelling |
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| Lots of peppers at last |
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| Yellow courgettes - our favourite |
Now I have to confess that I have my own take on this classic recipe and whilst it is not at all traditional it is really easy to make and and we all love it!
Ratatouille à L'Eco-Gites de Lénault
Ingredients
- Tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, peppers - cut into similar sized pieces
- Onions cut into thin slices and a few garlic cloves if you want
- Sugar, seasoning and herbs
Method
- Bung everything in a roasting tin and drizzle olive oil over the top.
- Add a flat teaspoon of sugar
- Season and add chopped herbs to taste
- Bake at 180ºC/Gas mark 4/360ºF for about an hour until everything is lovely and soft.
- Eat!
CATERPILLAR ALERT!
It's that time again - cabbage white butterflies are on the wing and laying eggs. If you are growing anything from the cabbage family (which includes many of the Oriental vegetables and Rocket) you may want to check daily for caterpillars. Leave it too long and you may end up with a plant looking like my poor broccoli here! At least this was the only one badly attacked but I will have to wait and see whether it can recover from the decimation.
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| Caterpillar-damaged broccoli seedling |
Finally for anyone wanting to know what the mystery plant was I gave you last week - it was an Indian bean Tree, Catalpa bignonioides. Lovely blossom in early summer is followed by massive bean pods in Autumn.
For more gardening blogs (and possibly a lot more flowers) why not visit the How Does Your Garden Grow linky over at Manneskjur?
I love Ratatouille so I'm going to save your recipe. Your yellow courgettes look lovely, a nice way of adding colour to dishes. I'm on the daily lookout for cabbage moth caterpillars on our kale at the moment. There are so many of them!!
ReplyDeleteYellow courgettes are lovely - a slightly more firm texture than the green ones.
DeleteIt is wonderful that you can get everything for your recipe from your garden.
ReplyDeleteI just need to work out if I can grow an olive tree and harvest the oil - I suspect not though!
DeleteThis looks like the perfect recipe to save! Wish I could make it like you from fresh ingredients in the garden.
ReplyDeleteLovely looking veggies, and a recipe...yum!
ReplyDeleteNot sure we have anything from the cabbage family, but anything buggy / insect looking I'm getting hubby to fling over the wall
You'd be surprised what plants are in the cabbage family.
DeleteYummy! I see that Emma from Spuddler has posted photos of her brassicas all munched to bits by caterpillars, poor thing.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever has ratatouille - shame on me, SHAME ON ME.
Loving the rude looking aubergine *waggles eyebrows*
Thanks for joining in again my little french friend x
I saw those munched brassicas too :(
DeleteNow what do you mean about that aubergine? LOL
Looks good! Just think of the butterflies that will be around too :-)
ReplyDeleteSo many butterflies here this year - I just wish the cabbage whiles would flutter off elsewhere.
DeleteThat looks like the perfect summer recipe, will be saving it for a later date! How fab to have all the ingredients on tap as it were!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it.
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