Summer Lovin' Ratatouille Soup

First off, let me explain what Ratatouille is.  Yes, I know there is a very cute movie by Disney Pixar called it, but it is also a traditional French dish.  It originates in Nice and in French is called "ratatouille niçoise."  Although traditionally, the dish literally was a tossed vegetable dish, now the ways of preparing and serving Ratatouille are extremely varied.   However, what's in the dish has remained the same.  It contains onion, garlic, bell pepper, squash, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, seasoned with herbs and is "stew-like."  I prepared this dish as a slow-cooked, main entree soup.

The baby and I have had really bad allergies and cold-like symptoms for about a week and a half now.  When I don't feel good, I NEED soup!  I figured this was a nice, healthy, summery soup to make.  And with all the veggies, we are absolutely getting our vitamins!  I added some Cavatappi pasta to this soup, but you can add whatever shaped pasta you would like, I was playing with the idea of adding Pastina, and then at the last minute decided against it; or you could add some white or brown rice for it to be a little more filling! 

I bought too much zucchini and a larger than needed eggplant for the dish.  I recently started my hand at blanching and freezing my produce.  I was tired of overbuying, and then throwing out produce!  Later in the week, I will post a small "how to" on freezing your own fresh produce!  Luckily, I was able to freeze the left over eggplant and zucchini, and can now make a veggie stir fry for another night!  I really hate wasting anything, so it's essential to get the most bang for my buck!

 

With and Without Pasta

Yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 medium red onion, sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, chopped
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 yellow summer squash, sliced
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground marjoram
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 cans (14 oz each) reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 zucchini, cut lengthwise and then across
• 1 small eggplant, (if the eggplant is big, only use half) cut into quarters and then across

Directions:

I highly recommend using a 6+ quart slow cooker.  Comine onion, pepper, tomatoes, squash, garlic, spices and broth and cook on LOW for 6 hours. 

Stir in the zucchini and the eggplant and cook an additional 45 minutes on HIGH, or until both the zucchini and eggplant are tender.  Fill bottom of bowl with pasta or rice (not necessary though) and spoon soup over it.