Entrees

Italian

Ratatouille Puttanesca

Nothing says high summer than a batch of fragrant simmering ratatouille on the stove. Labeled as food for the poor in France with a gourmet touch, this still bring out great taste. Ratatouille and puttanesca collided. Pasta survived.

What It Is

Origin

Ratatouille comes from Provence in southern France, not Normandy — a rustic vegetable stew built around whatever the summer garden was producing. Puttanesca, meanwhile, is purely Italian. This recipe borrows freely from both.

Fun Fact

Ratatouille is traditionally a French vegetable stew with zero pasta or olives in it, and puttanesca is a completely separate Italian sauce. This recipe is less a classic dish and more two countries' cooking traditions meeting at a party and deciding to carpool home together.

Prep

20 min

Cook

35 min

Temp

Stovetop simmer

Total

55 min

Servings

4 pasta bowls

(double it if teenagers are involved)

Difficulty

moderate

Diet

Dairy-Free, Nut-Free

Away Mission

70 min walk

(Scotty says she cannae take much more of this, Captain)

#entr-es-mains #french-italian-fusion #ratatouille-puttanesca

Ingredients

1 lb pasta noodles
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small courgette
1 red pepper
2 tbsp olives
1 tsp capers
2 tinned anchovies
2-inch piece chorizo sausage
4 ripe tomatoes
2 tbsp antipasto aubergines from jar
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp red wine
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh basil

Steps

Finely chop the onion and garlic and add them to the pan with the oil and cook for about 4 minutes, you don't want them to burn.
Slice the pepper and chop all the other ingredients and add them to the pan and stir to combine. If all pieces are of similar size they will cook evenly.
Season with salt and pepper and add the chopped fresh herbs.
Continue cooking at a low simmer for about 30 minutes so that everything is soft and all the flavours have really come together. You can pour into a dish and cook in the oven if you like instead.
To present in little towers as I have either use presentation rings or just grease a cookie cutter and fill with the hot mixture, pat down so it is quite solid and then slide off the ring carefully.
Cook pasta and once cooked, shock pasta with cold water to stop the cooking process. Add to a round plate and cover with ratatouille
Serve with a scattering of the herbs and some crunch fresh bread.

Notes

Salt the courgette lightly and let it sit for 10 minutes before cooking — it draws out excess water so the sauce doesn't turn thin.

Nutrition Facts

Per 1 pasta bowl

Calories 310

Burning this off: a brisk argument with a Costco parking lot.

% Daily Value*

Fat 7.0 g 9%

Saturated + Trans 1 g 5%

Cholesterol 0 mg

Sodium 170 mg 7%

Carbohydrate 52.0 g

Fibre 11.0 g 39%

Sugars 9.0 g 9%

Protein 14.0 g

Potassium 800 mg 17%

Calcium 350 mg 27%

Iron 22.0 mg 122%

*5% or less is a little, 15% or more is a lot. Sodium levels calculated in a country with universal healthcare — and it's free, so don't worry about it too much.

A genuinely respectable nutrition profile. No red flags here — go ahead and feel a little smug about it.

Substitutions

Any short pasta shape holds this sauce fine. Yellow squash can stand in for courgette. Capers are optional if you don't have them — the olives will still carry the puttanesca character.

Storage

Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 3 days. This reheats well and, like most tomato-based pasta dishes, doesn't mind a day of thinking about its choices in the fridge.

Freezing

Not stated in the cookbook. Most cooked bases can be frozen in airtight meal-sized portions, but dairy sauces, potatoes and fresh garnishes may change texture after thawing.