Oven-Baked Ratatouille

This was a great meal to make! I had to catch up from a couple of weeks ago when I wasn't feeling well and I am so happy that we made this meal! It was great to smell while it was baking and great to eat! :) Another must make!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 medium onions, cut into wedges

6 cloves garlic, smashed

1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (we couldn't find this..so we used Italian Seasoning - it had a lot of the same ingredients)

1 bay leaf

2 zucchini, cut into wedges

1 small eggplant (1lb) unpeeled, cut into wedges

1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch wide strips

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1 inch wide strips

10 canned whole peeled tomatoes

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (I forgot to buy fresh so we used dried)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (I forgot to buy fresh so we used dried)

Preheat the oven to 400 degress. Heat the oil in an ovenproof Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, herbes de provence (italian seasoning!) and bay leaf, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, about 10 minutes.

Stir in the zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, breaking the tomatoes into rough chunks with a spoon (I used my hands!). Once the vegetables sizzle, put the ratatouille in the oven and bake, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and browning, up to 1 1/2 hours. (we only baked it for 45 minutes and it was great!) Remove from the oven and stir in basil and parsley.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash, Apple and Onion Galette with Stilton

This had a great fall taste! Jay really enjoyed the meal...me, not so much! I tried it though and you may like it! A lot of fun to make and smelled amazing while making it! :)

Ingredients:

Dough:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Pinch Salt

8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced (1 stick)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Filling:

1 large baking apple

1 small butternut squash (3/4 pound), halved, seeded and skin on

1 small yellow onion, peeled

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard (whole grain dijon mustard - mustard with the seeds in it!)

1/3 cup crumbled Stilton (crumbly blue cheese)

For the dough: Pulse the flour and salt together in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse about 10 times until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal with a few bean - size bits of butter in it. Add the egg pulse 1 to 2 times more; don't let the dough form a mass around the blade. If the dough seems very dry, add up to 1 tablespoon of cold water a teaspoon at a time, pulsing briefly. Remove the blade and bring the dough together by hand. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

For the filling: Halve and core the apple and cut each half into 8 wedges. Put them in a large bowl. Slice the squash and cut the onion into wedges so that both are as thick as the apple wedges and add them to the apples. Add the butter, rosemary, and thyme and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper and toss again.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12 inch disk. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and brush with mustard. Starting 2 inches from the edge, alternate pieces of apple, squash and onion in overlapping circles. Fold and pleat the dough over the edge of the filling. Bake until the crust is brown and the apple, squash and onion are tender and carmalized, about 55 minutes.

Scatter the cheese over the filling and bake until melted, about 5 more minutes. Cool briefly and then cut into wedges and serve.

Enjoy!