stewed vegetables - pisto, ratatouille
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon
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Pisto/Ratatouille
With very slight variation, what you call this thick, stewed
vegetable dish really depends on which side of the Pyrenees you are on - pisto
(Spanish) or ratatouille (French). A very versatile, multiuse dish and
absolute summer fare using the best of the season; tomatoes, aubergines
(eggplants), courgettes, capsicums (peppers) and of course onion and garlic all
stewed in their own juices.
In any case, no additional liquid is added and it should be slightly saucy (the
French version) or rather so (the Spanish pisto). Vegetables soft but not mushy (no al dente fare
here) and begging to be soaked up with a crusty bread. Serve as is, or as
is often served in Spain - with a fried or scrambled egg as a topping. See
suggestions below for more inspiration.
Which came first?
Pisto. Read
this article at the Food
Bytes section for even more information. Proportions are really up to
cook's preference, so here is how I make my pisto:
about 4 generous servings or 6 smaller
(See note below for ratatouille
version)
1 lg. onion
2 lg. cloves garlic
2 sweet red capsicums (peppers) or 1 green and 1 red
1 lg. aubergine
6-8 lg. ripe roma (Italian oval) tomatoes*
1 lg. courgette (zucchini)
1 t. salt
pepper
+- 4 T. olive oil
optional: if the tomatoes are not so flavourful - 1 heaping T. concentrated tomato paste.
optional herbs if you are not such a purist: 1 lg. bay leaf, heaping T. chopped, fresh oregano or basil
*You can also use an 800 g. tin of whole tomatoes. Remove seeds.
My version of this uses the fresh or dried zest of about 1/4 lemon, 2 t. tomato paste and 1 T. sweet paprika paste. The latter is not crucial but very nice and if you cannot find it, a small tin of roasted peppers puréed will do wonderfully.
You may coarsely chop all vegetables or slice them all except the tomatoes. It really is up to you. I prefer everything chopped but not to coarsely except the large courgette which I slice in quarters then into bite sizes. However, some cooks prefer everything chopped but the peppers sliced thinly. It is up to you and how the dish will be used (see suggestions).
Tomatoes are often, but not always peeled, however, seeds and juice are discarded. Just drop them into boiling water, remove from heat and allow to rest for about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Skins come off easily. Cut them in half, invert over a bowl and squeeze. Usually the seed clusters come right out. If not, fingers are your best tool! Chop coarsely and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large, wide soup pot. Add the onions and fry 5 minutes or so before adding the bay leaf (if using) garlic and the peppers. Stir well and continue to fry another 5 minutes or so.
In the meantime, peel the aubergine. Slice in half lengthways, then each half again lengthways. Keeping cut side down on the board, cut through lengthwise again about five times. Cut in a small dice. Add to the peppers and onion. Cook until the rest of the oil is absorbed or the aubergine seems a little softer.
While the aubergine cooks, cut the courgette into half (or quarter) and slice. Add the prepared tomatoes and the courgette when the aubergine is ready.
Add salt and pepper well, stir and lid. Allow to gently simmer, stirring now and again for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but not mushy. Add the tomato and paprika paste (if using) after about 15 minutes. If there is too much liquid, allow to cook further unlidded to reduce.
Taste after 10 minutes cooking time. If it seems too sharp due to the acidity of the tomatoes, add a little grated sweet apple after 10 minutes and taste again. Some cooks add a pinch of sugar instead. I try to avoid this.
Pisto or ratatouille should be a loose, saucy mixture with the peppers and courgette giving the texture.
Suggestions for either version:
pasta sauce - Stir in your favourite cooked pasta, allow to rest a few minutes to allow the pasta to soak up some of the liquid before serving. For this purpose, have all the vegetables chopped, but if you prefer, leave the courgette in bite size pieces. This recipe will be enough pasta sauce for 6.
main - Serve with rice, couscous (ratatouille) or sautéed chunks of potato, with or without a fried egg. Serve without rice topped with a fried egg as the Spanish often do.
Semana Santa version (Holy Week) for pisto - Stir in drained tuna and top with quarters of boiled egg.
side dish - Very good and very traditional in Spain with fish, chicken or lamb.
cooking - Fish, thin slices of chicken or thin lamb chops may be cooked in the pisto as they only require a few minutes cooking time.
appetizer - Serve hot or cold, a very tasty tapa (snack or appetizer). Crusty bread and wine is a must!
topping - Cold on bread or mixed into grain or pasta salads. Cover a pizza base generously with it, sprinkle over a little drained tuna and sprinkle pine nuts. Bake in a hot oven and you have a typical Valencian snack called Coca Piso or Coca Samfaina.
filling - Chop the vegetables finer and fill ravioli or anything else you would normally fill such as little pastry rounds.
Ratatouille Variation:
Increase to 2 lg. courgettes, 4 garlic cloves and 2 green peppers. Cut all the vegetables rather coarsely (onion and garlic finer) and use more olive oil. Use about half a kilo of tomatoes (about 4 lg. ripe ones) though some prefer more and to seed or not to seed is again personal preference. Do not peel the aubergine. Cut into quarters, then into coarse slices. Sprinkle salt over the chopped aubergine and courgettes and allow to sweat about 20 min. Rinse off the salt and pat dry. This is not crucial but there is a notable taste difference. Try this technique for either dish. Ratatouille is less saucy than pisto and more a stew.
If you have time, traditionally ratatouille has all the vegetables cooked separately (onions and garlic together) then all is combined at the end. Most French cooks forgo this and cook it as described above.
Proceed as above but add with the tomatoes 1 good t. Herbes de Provence or a mix of following fresh: 1 t. thyme, 1t. rosemary, 1 t. savory or fresh basil all finely chopped. Stir in 1 T. finely chopped parsley shortly before serving.
Note: traditionally the
Spanish pisto uses a peeled aubergine, but when in a hurry, I have left the skin
on. Some cooks sprinkle salt over the prepared aubergine, mix well and
leave to 'sweat' for at least 20 minutes. It is not a crucial step and
easily done if you do this first before continuing on with the recipe.
Rinse well afterwards and drain before adding to the dish as per above
instructions. It does make a subtle but noticeable difference.
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The Epicurean Table © 1999-2006 Patricia Conant