Saturday, August 15, 2026

Friends: It's Time 🌶️ 🧄🫑🍅🧅🍆

The above site means one and only one thing: It's ratatouille time!

There are many ways to make excellent ratatouille, but I think roasting it is the least fussy (and best) way to do it.

The recipe I use calls for roasting with both olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which gives the finished ratatouille a subtle bite, a flavor that evokes eggplant caponata, though the sharpness is more mellow. It is irresistible.

Let’s review: Gather all of your ratatouille vegetables: tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, onions, summer squash, and garlic. Don’t worry if you have more or less of one vegetable or another: it always works out.

Roughly chop everything. As you chop, pile the vegetables into your largest roasting pan, seasoning each layer of vegetables with salt. Pour olive oil and vinegar (see the recipe box notes for large-batch quantities) over the top. Season with pepper to taste.

A pan of vegetables on a kitchen counter.

If your pan looks like this, don't worry! (And don't stir either.)

Transfer the pan to the oven and roast at 400ºF for 45 minutes. When the vegetables have released some of their juices and shrunk considerably, remove the pan and carefully stir.

Return the pan to the oven and continue to cook for 2 hours (or more or less), stirring halfway, until the vegetables become completely stewy, almost jammy in texture.

Toss it with pasta. Spoon it over polenta. Eat it straight from the pan.

A few summers ago, I discovered I loved it over grilled flatbread, the recipe for which I included in Pizza Night.

It also freezes beautifully, so don't be afraid to pack it away in quart containers and save it for a chilly fall day. (The caramelized cloves of garlic are my favorite.)

This is one of my all-time favorite dishes to make for its forgiving, no-measure approach. I know you'll all love it, too.

Roasted Ratatouille

PS: A few weeks ago, after I wrote about my experience making scarpaccia here, my friend texted me saying she makes a double batch every week. She sent me her recipe, and wow, it was fabulous: loaded with zucchini, but thin and crisp. I snacked on it for days. Will share the recipe soon:

PPS: This week we found ourselves with only one kid at home, so we headed north to climb a few high peaks: Algonquin, Iroquois, and Wright. It has been a few summers since we did one of these hikes, and I had forgotten how much I love that view from the top and that feeling of total exhaustion at the end of the day.

We stayed at the ADK Loj, which I can't recommend enough — it's cozy and serves wonderful food.

Review of the Week

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Peach Frangipane Galette with Foolproof Crust

"This is absolutely phenomenal! Crust turned out crispy on the bottom."

— Wendy

Farm Share Friends:

The season of ALL the greens, herbs, and radishes has arrived. While I am no longer updating The Farm Share Newsletter, these posts from previous years may be helpful: