Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Ratatouille Tart

The moment I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. Oh my, this was SOOOOO good! I have no words to describe how tasty and yummy this tart is!
I made it today for lunch and just had to come here and post the recipe to share with you guys.
Cornmeal-Crusted Roasted Ratatouille Tart is full of delicious vegetables that are slightly roasted before the tart is assembled, which makes them moist and gives the tart a rich taste at the same time.
Super good, seriously, I looooved this recipe! The cornmeal crust was simple to make and very easy to work with, plus it was delicious! The corn taste complemented the vegetables really well, it was almost as if corn was another veggie in there; the crust was crispy all over, even on the bottom. Pre-baking the crust ensured it turned out crunchy and not soggy, even though the vegetables were nice and moist. Oh, and the recipe says to use a food processor, but since I don't have one I made my dough by hand and it turned out great (again, so yummy!!!).
Matheus loved this as well and even asked if I could repeat the recipe again this weekend! Yay! If I have everything on hand by Saturday, then why not, right?!!
As usual, I followed the recipe but made a few alterations based on what I had at home, but this time they were very minor changes: I used a mix of leeks and onions instead of shallots, and added some garlic to this sauteed onion thing; also, fontina cheese was used instead of mozzarella, and since I did not have fresh basil I sprinkled the veggies with a dried Italian herb mix. Oh, and for the crust I used 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and will do it again, as the crust turned out very flavorful this way.
I don't believe my changes were too significant in terms of altering the flavors at the end as the major ingredients were all in there, but I am pretty sure this would taste even better with the fresh basil in it. One thing I did was to sprinkle a bit of salt on each layer of veggies, before adding the remaining ingredients on top, just to make sure that each layer would get the proper amount of seasonings.
We really enjoyed this recipe today! It is perfect for a light lunch, although after 3 pieces I ended up not feeling as light as I should!
Enjoy!!
Ana











Cornmeal-Crusted Roasted Ratatouille Tart
(Recipe by Ellie Krieger)

Crust:
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons water

Filling:
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/3 cup)
Cooking spray
1/2 pound thinly sliced eggplant rounds (about 1/3 medium eggplant)
1 zucchini, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (about 8 ounces)
3 medium tomatoes, sliced thinly
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine cornmeal, pastry flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to incorporate. Add butter and oil and pulse about 20 times, until mixture resembles small pebbles. Add water and pulse until mixture forms a loose dough. Remove dough from processor and press into bottom and about 1/8-inch up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a detachable rim. Press aluminum foil into the bottom and sides of the pan on top of the dough and weigh down with uncooked rice or pie weights. Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and remove rice and foil. Return to oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until no longer shiny and wet. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the filling: Increase the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat; saute shallots until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Spray 2 baking trays with cooking spray. Arrange the eggplant, zucchini and tomato slices on the trays in a single layer and brush with the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, and roast the vegetables until soft but not browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the vegetables from oven and cool.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Lay the eggplant slices in 2 layers on the bottom of tart; cover with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese and some of the shredded basil. Add the zucchini and shallots, top with another 1/3 of the mozzarella and basil, then the tomatoes. Top with rest of the mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and vegetables have further wilted. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm.


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

oi Ana!!!
nossa..mt bonito o q vc fez e parece mt gostoso!!!
entre esses dias no msn...as ferias akki ja ta acabando!!
bjus!!!

Elvira said...

Que maravilha de tarte salgada! :-)

brisa said...

Ana!! I love this!! We usually make with pizza dough and whatever veggies we have available, but most of the times they are: use green onions (large cut), tomatoes, zucchini, mushroom..and whatever else. We also use pesto between dough and veggies and top with muzzarella and parmesan cheeses. We call it "Not a Pizza"..hehe

HOWEVER..we NEVER used cornmeal crust. This sound even better!! Que dela!:))

Linda a sua..

Bjs

brisa said...

PS: KC got kind of mad when I showed him, because we've been making this for years, and we both thought it was our creation..hehehe..Well, in a way, it was for us, since we never saw a recipe for it before and we gave it a name;)

I showed him and asked: what's this?? He answered at once..hehehe

Bjs

Karen said...

Acho que vou fazer hoje mesmo!

Ana said...

Evandro, ficou bonito ne?! E melhor de tudo, super gostoso tbem!!

Elvira, obrigada!

Brisa, how funny!! As I saw this recipe and picture I wanted to try immediately, everything that has veggies in it gets my attention right away. Try it with the cornmeal crust, it was really good, I liked this recipe a lot!

Karen, I am sure you are going to like this one too!!

Ana

Anonymous said...

Wow! This not only sounds wonderful, it sounds amazingly versatile. I could even see skipping the eggplant rounds [and yes, I know, it wouldn't be a ratatouille tart then] and adding more veggies--perhaps red bell pepper slices and mushrooms, for instance. And you could add some chunks of leftover roasted chicken for an even heartier meal.

miki w. said...

ana, essa tua torta parece uma delícia! me deu água na boca! yummy!

beijinhos, miki

Akemi said...

Seu entusiasmo me contagiou, deu vontade de fazer agora mesmo!
Esta crosta com fubá deve dar um gostinho diferente!

Eli said...

Ana querida esse blog é uma delícia! Olha fico muito feliz que vai fazer uma receita minha, e nhoque dá bem pra 3 pessoas. Depois me conte o que você achou da receita. Eu não tenho seu email. :(
Bjim!

brisa said...

Querida Ana,

Hoje descobrih no jornalzinho do TraderJoes que eles tem uma cornmeal pizza crust..e fui la ontem mesmo!! hehe..Acho que vou ter que "cheat" e tentar com a crust deles primeiro..hehehe Depois te conto..

Bjs

Bri

Fer Guimaraes Rosa said...

Ana, que bom que voce gostou da panna cotta com iogurte. Eu achei bem cremosa e levinha, acho que vou repetir a dose com raspberry qd encontrar! :-)

Amei essa receita de massa com cormeal e o recheio de berinjela assada, hmmmm, sooo goood! Vai pra minha longa lista.... :-)

beijao!

Ana Cláudia Ruy Cardia said...

hermana!!!!
sua torta ficou mtoo bonita mesmo, e imagino q tenha ficado mto boa!
se vc puder mandar a tradução da receita eu vejo com mamae se ela faz aqui tbm!! vc disse q eh com fubá neh! e nao parece ser muuito dificil nope! heheheh!!!!
Beijinhos, hermanaa!!!!!
amo vc!

Valentina said...

Ana, such great recipe. I love different uses to cornflour. I will definitelly give this one a go.

Anonymous said...

This looks sooooo good, as well as your ice cream torte below!

Paz

Valentina said...

I love this recipe. had to come copy it again because I lost my old notes. hugs