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| Diced eggplant |
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| Lightly cooked eggplant and zucchini are placed in a casserole dish |
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| Who knew garlic could be so pretty? |
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| Tomatoes, garlic and onion. You can use fresh tomatoes or thick tomato sauce (or a combination). |
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| Basil fresh from Gina's garden |
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| Gina loves cooking with basil flowers. You can use them with or instead of basil leaves. Pick them before too many seeds have formed. |
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| Veggies, basil, and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. The pepper Gina used smelled like bergamot (the characteristic scent and flavour of Earl Grey tea) |
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| Meat (in this case, veal) is browned and added to the veggies before the whole thing is placed in the oven on low heat. |
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| We had salad with every meal. This one featured finely chopped tomatoes and pumpkin seeds |
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| Gina made a "risotto" using the local variety of spelt wheat |
Wheat "Risotto"
spelt wheat (AKA hulled wheat)
onion
water
Mince onion; cook over low heat until translucent. Add wheat grains and stir, 1 to 2 minutes. Add water (use twice as much water as spelt). Cook, covered, until wheat is tender and has absorbed water.
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| Ready to serve |
RATATOUILLE
Serves 6
3 aubergines (eggplants)
3 zucchini (courgettes)
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes very ripe
1 Tbs of natural grey salt [or use a good quality sea salt]
1 Tbs of Provencal herbs
1 Tbs of ground black pepper
0,5 Cup
of olive oil
1- Rinse the aubergines, remove the green part,
cut vertically in slices of 1cm (1/2‘’) and then in squares of 1cm
(1/2‘’). Put the aubergine cubes in a colander, add a little salt and let
the liquid drain. If you use small organic aubergines there is little water.
2- Put olive oil in a pan, enough to cover the
bottom, heat gently, no more than 200°F (95°C).
3- Rinse
the zucchini and cut into small cubes as you did with the aubergine. Put the zucchini
cubes in the pan, saute gently till they
turn light brown. Increase the heat if it is necessary but not more than 250°F
(120°C).
4- When zucchini are browned put them in a
casserole, add olive oil in the pan and cook the aubergines in the same way.
5- Meanwhile, peel and cut the tomatoes, the onion
and the garlic in small cubes.
6- When the aubergines become light brown, put
them in the casserole with the zucchini.
7- Add a little olive oil to the pan and cook the
onion. When the onion becomes translucent, add the garlic, decrease the
temperature to 175°F (80°C) and add tomato cubes. Turn gently in order to cook
off the juices from the pan and then add to the casserole.
8- Mix all the vegetables in the casserole, add
salt, pepper and herbs, make a kind of nest in the vegetables and put a piece of roasted
meat in it.
9- Put a lid on the casserole, and put it in the
oven at 200°F (95°C) for 45 minutes.
10- When the
meat is tender, decrease temperature to 140°F (60°C) till you are ready to serve.
11- Serve in
the casserole dish.
Bon appétit.
For dessert we enjoyed strawberries macerated in a bit of sugar, red wine, fresh mint, and black pepper...
This was one of my favourite meals in Provence and I highly recommend giving it a try.
Lesson 4 coming soon....
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Photos ©Whimsy Bower
