Penne rigate con Ratatouille

Let me start off by saying, Ratatouille is a movie that would melt the cold heart of a seasoned street corner pimp. It’s incredible. Seriously, it’s up there with the Lion King, Toy Story, and Beauty and the Beast. No lie.

Ever since I saw the movie I’ve kept my eye out at restaurants for any Ratatouille, but it seems as though no-one makes it! The frenchies tend to stick to their gun’s with the standard meat and veggies combinations, leaving out this dish altogether. I know that if I owned a French restaurant, I would defiantly try to incorporate it in my menu somehow. Good marketing! A little cheesy, but good none the less. People are curious!

Sooo, I decided to make my own. Ratatouille is a simple dish consisting of egg plant, yellow squash, tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers, onions, garlic, basil, and a few other herbs. Like the movie said, it’s a peasants dish. Poor French farmers ate it during the summer time paired with a little baget or rice. It’s basically a meal made of “everything we’ve got.” The trick is, is to cook the vegetables individually and then combine them at the end with the array of herbs.

I used a shallot instead of onions because I like them better.

I topped the final product with some Parmesan-Reggiano.

“Rigate” is Italian for ’striped’. It’s just penne with ridges.

De-lish!

-Johnny

Tags: penne, ratatouille