Sheet pans add colour, crispness and flavour
One of the really neat things about many of the recipes in Molly Gilbert’s Sheet Pan Suppers ( published simultaneously by Workman Publishing and, in Canada, Thomas Allen & Son Ltd., Dec., 2014) is that you can prepare an entire meal on a single sheet pan. These recipes are from the book.
HEARTY RATATOUILLE WITH GOAT CHEESE
Serves: 8
Gilbert’s version of this traditional French dish of stewed vegetables uses “all the usual vegetable suspects in a ratatouille” — peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and squash — as well as sliced potatoes, “which I think helps to heft it up.” Soft goat cheese adds flavour and texture. Serve with good crusty bread or over penne pasta or rice.
Olive oil cooking spray 1 can ( 12 ounces) tomato purée 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced ½ medium yellow onion, finely chopped Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes 1 large red bell pepper 1 large Chinese eggplant or other long, skinny eggplant 1 large zucchini 1 large yellow squash 3 or 4 smallish Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled ( about ¾ pound total) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves 4 ounces soft goat cheese 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh basil leaves Crusty bread, for serving
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F with one rack about 4 inches from the broiler and another rack in the centre position. Mist a sheet pan with cooking spray.
2. Spoon the tomato purée onto the prepared sheet pan. Add the garlic, onion, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, and toss together to combine. Use a rubber spatula to spread the purée evenly over pan, distributing the garlic and onion throughout and pushing the sauce into the corners of the pan. Drop the butter cubes over the surface of the pan, spacing them evenly.
3. Cut off the top of the pepper, and carefully pull out the seeds and membrane. Use a sharp knife to slice the pepper into ⅛- to ¼ - inch- thick rounds, then slice the rounds into thirds: You’ll end up with a bunch of small curved pepper pieces.
4. Trim the ends off the eggplant, zucchini, and squash. Slice each into thin rounds, ⅛- to ¼ - inch thick. Slice the potatoes into rounds of the same thickness.
5. Carefully arrange the vegetables over the tomato sauce and butter, overlapping them in a deliberate pattern from one short end to the other. You’ll be able to see a bit of tomato sauce at the sides of the pan, but the vegetable layer should be tight enough that you don’t see much.
6. Drizzle the vegetables with the olive oil, sprinkle with the thyme and an extra pinch each of salt and pepper. Bake the ratatouille on the centre rack for 30 to 40 minutes, until vegetables are tender and tomato sauce is bubbling up at the edges.
7. Remove pan from oven; turn oven to broil. Break goat cheese into large crumbles and scatter them evenly over the ratatouille. Broil to gently melt the cheese, about 1 minute.
8. Remove from oven, sprinkle the chopped basil over the ratatouille and serve warm, with plenty of crusty bread for scooping up the vegetables and sauce.