Dinner and a Movie: Ratatouille

The idea for this post came to me kind of out of the blue a while ago. Co-workers were listing their favourite cartoon movies, and Ratatouille popped into my head. It is by no means my favourite, and I only watched it once a couple years ago, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

And of course, thinking about the movie Ratatouille, led me to think about the dish. Since I had never even tried it, let alone tried to make it, I thought I may as well try both, and watch the movie at the same time!

I found the recipe below in my cookbook, Better Homes & Gardens' New Cookbook, that I had picked up a while ago just so that I could have a cookbook with a lot of popular recipes. Who knew it would have ratatouille?

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups cubed, peeled eggplant
1 zucchini halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon snipped fresh basil or oregano
Method:
In a large skillet cook the onion and garlic in oil until the onion is tender. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (except for the basil/oregano) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Uncover and cook for 5 more minutes, or until most of the liquid had evaporated. Stir in the basil/oregano just before serving.

*I made mine a little differently, it was a little heavier on the tomatoes and green peppers and low on the eggplant, but tasted good to me. 

Overall it turned out be a success! I found out that I actually like Ratatouille, the dish and the film! And making a sort of "event" out of the meal made it a little extra special. I'm already thinking about my next dinner and movie evening.... perhaps Julie & Julia paired with beef bourguignon? Or maybe I'll cook up some fried chicken and biscuits and watch The Help?

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.