Seasonal Ratatouille With Halloumi

This is an easy dish to make, as everything is fired into one pot – meaning there is less washing up afterwards, which is always a bonus. The following list is of the ingredients Mum and I used that we had on hand, but ingredients can be substituted.  The ingredients in our Ratatouille dishes change each time we make them to allow for seasonal vegetables. For example, Mum has lots of beans, peppers, and tomatoes ready in the garden at the moment and we had a portion of a huge marrow in the fridge that Mum’s sister had been given by a friend.

This is only a portion of the marrow and this section is 15 cm diameter and 15 cm high. We used a slice of it cut into chunks in the ratatouille.

SEASONAL RATATOUILLE 

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

Olive oil

1 medium courgette, cut into chunks

Marrow

¼ red pepper, sliced

½ green pepper, sliced

1 red “greek golden” pepper

1 medium aubergine, cut into chunks

5 portobello mushrooms, chopped into chunks

Handful of beans, chopped

Celery, cut into small slices

Hawke’s Bay Yellow Tomatoes, chopped

½ can of tomatoes chopped in purée

Chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

Serve with rice and fried halloumi cheese.

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil in a pot and when cooked, remove from pot and set aside.

In the pot fry courgette, peppers, aubergine. Leave to brown slightly, then add mushrooms, and beans and celery, and leave to cook. Add fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes and chilli flakes and return the onion and garlic mixture to the pot. Add seasoning and leave on a low heat for the flavours to mingle.

Cut halloumi cheese into slices and dust with flour. Fry in olive oil until browned on both sides, then serve on top of the ratatouille dish.