Ratatouille & Roasted Chicken For December
“I don’t like food. I love it! If I don’t love it, I don’t swallow.”
Ratatouille, Roasted Chicken and Red Wine
Our 2014 Vintner's Red, that is.
We were in the mood for a dish that really celebrated Fall vegetables. And honestly, we couldn't think of one that was more appropriate, colorful and fun than ratatouille.
If you saw the Disney movie, you know that the fun cartoon put this simple French dish on the table for millions of people. A tasty ensemble that highlights Fall, the eggplant, red peppers, green and yellow squash pair wonderfully with a glass of our newly released 2014 Vintners Red.
Ingredients
4 Chicken leg quarters
Garlic powder
seasoned salt
lemon pepper
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced
1 cup tomato puree (such as Pomi)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant
1 smallish zucchini
1 smallish yellow squash
1 longish red bell pepper
Few sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Coat the bottom of an oval baking dish with tomato puree, stirring in a tablespoon of olive oil. Place the sliced garlic cloves and chopped onion into the sauce. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini yellow squash, and red pepper, removing the core but keeping the pepper intact.
Using a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer or with a very sharp knife, cut the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and red pepper into very thin slices, approximately 1/16-inch thick.
Arrange the slices of vegetables atop the sauce concentrically from the outer edge to the inside of the baking dish, overlapping so just a smidgen of each flat surface is visible, alternating vegetables.
Drizzle the remaining tablespoon olive oil over the vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Remove the leaves from the thyme sprigs with your fingertips, running them down the stem. Sprinkle the fresh thyme over the dish.
Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.
Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, until vegetables have released their liquid and are clearly cooked, but with some structure left so they are not totally limp. They should not be brown at the edges, and you should see that the tomato sauce is bubbling up around them.
You can bake the chicken at the same time as the ratatouille.
Wash and pat dry (with a towel) the chicken quarters. Coat the chicken with either butter or olive oil before sprinkling with salt, seasoned pepper, garlic and lemon butter.
Place seasoned chicken in a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for approximately 45 minutes covered, removing the foil afterwards. Baste the chicken with liquid in the casserole dish, then continue to roast for another 30-40 minutes or until the skin has achieved the desired level of brownness.
Serve alongside the ratatouille and enjoy!
Tasting Tip: Note the fruity medium body of the wine and how the cranberry, oak spice assist the sweet zucchini and yellow squash to balance the acidity of the tomato puree.
A well constructed ratatouille looks like art.
We thought we'd leave you with some wise words from the movie as you prepare this meal for your dinner table. Let us know how it turned out. Do you like the dish? Leave a comment below or let us know on the Facebook page.
Out of the Vintner's Red? Stop by and grab a bottle!