eclaire (what’s in a) name?

early this fall, my dad and bonnie visited us to watch my talented sister perform with the santa cruz symphony. they arrived laden with gorgeous home grown veggies. my dad’s mouth watering signature dish is something that lies between caponata and ratatouille, and thus the vegetables he grew lent themselves well to making this dish.

after the revelries of the weekend were over, mike and i decided that we had to attempt to make something akin to ratatouille with all the gorgeous vegetables sitting in our fridge. lacking a recipe from my dad, we started chopping and sautéing, using ingredients from our cupboard to try to avoid a trip to the store.

we came up with a great meal, which i’ve been remiss in posting because i feel a little guilty even calling it a recipe – we basically just sauteed all the veggies my dad left us, added a couple more ingredients, stuffed some leftover shells we had lying around, and baked the dish.

so even though it’s a little late for some of these veggies because i’ve been a slacker with this post, i’m sure you can find most of the ingredients in the store still – and if you decide to substitute some ingredients for the current late fall produce, please let all the rest of us know in the comments!

ratatouille/caponata remake

adapted from my dad’s classic dish
yields 6 servings

• pasta (we used large shells, but you could use anything you have on hand)
• 2T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 eggplant, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 5 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 10 kalamata olives, pitted and halved
• fresh or dried basil to taste
• can (or jar) of tomato sauce
• 6oz cheese (we used soy mozzarella)
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1. boil water and add pasta (if not stuffing shells, do this later – you can throw the ratatouille over any kind of pasta and bake or not bake – your choice)
2. pour enough olive oil into sauté pan to coat it, and heat over medium high heat
3. sauté onions and garlic for 2 minutes
4. add eggplant, and stir for 3-4 minutes
5. toss in bell peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, basil and salt & pepper to taste, then let simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the flavors blend together
6. if you’re stuffing shells, pour some tomato sauce into a 9×13 pan and place shells in, being careful not to burn your fingers as you stuff them with the filling from the sauté pan
7. once all shells are stuffed, pour tomato sauce over the top, making sure all noodles are covered (unless you enjoy the crunchy noodle effect)
8. top with cheese and bake 20-30 minutes at 350°, until everything is warm and bubbly, and enjoy!