Ratatoullie with polenta

By Jess Kehoe

This is one of my all time favorite recipes.  It is an oldy from my mom's original Moosewood cookbook, which is full of stains from 40+ years of use.  For those of you who don't' know what the Moosewood cookbook is, it's a classic vegetarian cookbook based on food from the famous restaurant in Ithaca, New York.  Unlike some of the recipes I share, this one is a bit time consuming.  There are lots of things to chop up and making real polenta is a bit time consuming because you do have to attend to it the whole time it's cooking.  BUT, you should give it a try.  It's also worth noting that a nice crusty bread also goes well with this meal.

Ingredients:

For the Polenta:
1 cups corn meal (yellow)
1 cup cold water
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2-4 cups boiling water
1 packed cup grated cheddar
grated parmesan to taste

For the Ratatouille:
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium bell peppers, cubed
2 small, or 1 medium, zucchini or yellow squash, cubed
1 eggplant, cubed
4 cloves crushed garlic
2 medium tomatoes, in chunks
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. each: basil, marjoram
1/2 tsp. oregano
dash of ground rosemary
3 Tbs. burgundy (or any red wine of your choice)
1/2 cup tomato juice
2 Tbs. tomato paste
2 tsp. salt 
black pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Instructions:

The tricky part here is managing the polenta and sauteing the ratatouille to be finished at the same time!  I have included the order in which I have successfully completed this, but it was a little stressful at the end.  You could always make the ratatouille and then just leave it covered while you make to polenta.  In my experience the fresher the polenta, the better!

Heat olive oil in large, heavy cooking pot over medium heat. Crush the garlic into the oil.  Add the bay leaf and onion, salt lightly and sauté until onion begins to turn transparent.  Next, add the eggplant, wine, tomato juice and herbs. Stir to mix well, then cover and simmer 10 minutes over low heat.

While this is simmering, start the polenta by combining the corn meal, cold water, salt and mix into a uniform paste.  Put the water for the polenta in a large saucepan and put it over high heat.

When eggplant is tender enough to be easily pricked by a fork, add zucchini and peppers, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

While this is simmering add the corn meal to the boiling water, then lower the heat and mix fairly constantly with a whisk.  Continue whisking for 10-12 minutes until it becomes the consistency of thick breakfast cereal.  Mix in the cheese, and then it's ready.

Finish off the ratatouille by adding the pepper, tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix well. Continue to stew for 5 minutes until all vegetables are tender. 

Serve the veggies over the polenta and enjoy!  

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