Baked Ratatouille with Goat's Cheese

Raise your hand if you are COMPLETELY OVER your regular recipe rotation! 
Six months ago, I will admit, it was fun to have the time to try new recipes and go out on a limb making Pad Thai or home-made croissants. Now that it's OCTOBER, it is possible that the enthusiasm you once felt about stepping foot in the kitchen has waned just a bit.
In the spring, I signed up for a CSA that supports local farmers intending to be more focused on buying only seasonal produce. You pay a seasonal subscription fee and show up to the produce pick up site once a week and make your selections. Typically the selection is pretty standard; tomatoes, onions, potatoes, berries, squash. But often there are selections that are a bit more adventurous; bok choy, eggplant, long beans, beets. I take these ingredients as a personal challenge to hunt down and make recipes that might be outside of my normal rotation. 
So, when my neighbor sent me this recipe and I was staring at a pile of squash and eggplant (courgettes and aubergines if you are fancy) recently picked up at the CSA, it was as if the stars aligned right there in the kitchen. Plus, I'll take any excuse to use goat's cheese in a recipe. The original recipe is from the BBC Good Food website, so is in those weird metric measurements, but I've converted it so you don't have to. You're welcome. Also, so you don't have to look it up, passata is basically a tomato puree and you can easily substitute canned crushed tomatoes but I was surprised to see passata in my local grocery store. Lastly, I recommend starting the dish in a pan that can go from cooktop to oven so you don't have to transfer. One fewer dish to wash is always a good thing. 

Baked Ratatouille with Goat's Cheese

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 red onions , chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
• 2 aubergines, diced
• 2 red peppers , seeded and diced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 16 oz passata
• 7 oz young goat’s cheese
• 4 courgettes (a mixture of green and yellow looks nice), thinly sliced

For the cheese sauce:

• 1 2/3 c milk
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1/3 c parmesan or vegetarian alternative, finely grated

Procedure

• STEP 1  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a heavy oven safe frying pan and gently cook the red onion and garlic for 5 mins until just starting to brown. Scatter over the aubergine and red pepper and sizzle for another 4 mins, adding more oil if you need to. Season well and stir through the paprika, then splash in the vinegar and soy sauce. Pour over the passata, then simmer for 5 mins until glossy and thick. Turn off the heat. Can be made up to two days ahead and kept in the fridge.
• STEP 2  To make the cheese sauce, heat the milk in the microwave until warm. In a saucepan, melt the butter until bubbling and add the flour. Whisk together to make a paste and continue to cook until lightly browned. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and simmer gently for 2-3 mins, stirring continually until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan and season.
• STEP 3  Cover the ratatouille with the cheese sauce. Crumble half of the goat’s cheese over sauce and arrange the courgette slices on top in concentric circles, alternating between green and yellow if you have them. Top with remaining goat's cheese. Can be assembled several hours before cooking.
• STEP 4  Heat oven to 400. Brush or drizzle the remaining oil over the courgette slices and season with sea salt. Bake in the oven for 25-30 mins until the courgettes are cooked through and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 mins before serving.

As eager as you are going to be to dig in to this, it IS important to let it rest once it comes out of the oven so it is not a runny, sloppy mess. Serve with a crusty bread and green salad and it is divine. In fact, I may or may not have had it for brunch the next morning with a fried egg on top. 
To find out more about CSAs in your area, go here.