The summer season brings all the garden-fresh vegetables I love, including zucchini and eggplant, which I would definitely be growing in our little garden plot if it weren’t for the deer. Year after year, I have tried in vain to grow my own veggies, and the increase of deer activity on our property and that of our neighbors has been almost humorous. Almost.
Gardening, for me, started as a fun, nature-loving adventure but has rapidly declined into a frustrating drama, and now we have this elevated box in our yard, where we cannot grow anything but marigolds and basil, which have proven to be the only things our local deer detest. Last year’s garden was demolished, right down to the flowers and budding fruit of the eggplants and even the jalapeno pepper plants (which I had been told deer would never eat). We have tried all the folk remedies on the internet—human hair, shavings of bar soap, peppermint oil, so-called deer repellent, and even a weird concoction I made from rotten eggs, cayenne and dish soap. That last remedy had near-catastrophic results, but I won’t embarrass my husband again with that story (you can read it here, if you’d like). This year, we didn’t even bother planting a garden, and I’m contemplating turning the raised bed into some kind of wildflower bed. I get exasperated just thinking about it.
To make up for a lack of homegrown veggies, we are regularly visiting our weekly Cobblestone farmers’ market, which features a variety of vendors offering fresh produce as well as pastured meat, eggs, organic mushrooms, jams and preserves, and even handmade alpaca wool products. It’s a fun way to spend an hour on a Saturday morning, and this past weekend, we came home with everything I needed for a new batch of ratatouille. Ah, my favorite veggie-centered summer meal!
Me being me, though, I cannot simply chop up these ingredients and make a “traditional” ratatouille, which would be a rustic casserole-meets-stew kind of thing. I have to twist it up! My culinary muse inspired me this time to combine the French classic dish with another favorite comfort food—lasagna. I figured that I could infuse my herbs de Provence seasoning into a ricotta mixture with lemon zest and some grated cheese and that it would be the “glue” to hold the other ingredients together inside a rolled-up lasagna noodle. The eggplant and zucchini would be sliced and roasted, and the red pepper would be worked into the sauce. This is how my mind sees a pile of ingredients, and the end result was exactly as I had imagined, both visually and in perfect summer flavor. Delicious!
This reimagined one-dish meal took mostly time to put together; it was not at all difficult. I cannot say definitively how much time is needed because I was cooking all day, in between work emails and other home tasks. I will say that it was mostly passive time; I was either waiting for things to lose moisture or to finish roasting or to boil or bake. The rest was just slicing, chopping and stirring, and there’s no particular order that must be followed. You could even make everything a day ahead and just assemble and bake it the next day.
I had so many things going on at once here! But mostly, I was just waiting… 
And the broiler was busy blistering up the skin on my bell pepper.
The entire ratatouille-meets-lasagna project weaved itself nicely into my busy day, and because each ingredient received its own treatment, the simplest way I can describe it is to share the process of each component. I’ll share a PDF version of the recipe at the end if you want to try it, but I’ll let the pictures tell the story in today’s post. Here we go! 🙂
The Ricotta Filling
Drain excess moisture from the ricotta by placing it in a mesh strainer over a bowl. Let it rest about 45 minutes. 
It’s surprising how much moisture will drain from the ricotta, which means it will not make these lasagna roll-ups soggy! 
Ricotta add-ins, clockwise from top: freshly ground black pepper, lemon zest, egg yolk, herbs de Provence, parm-romano blend.
The Eggplant
Slice the eggplant into uniform 1/2-inch slices. 
Salt and sweat the eggplant by placing it between layers of paper towel. This draws out moisture for better roasting. 
For easy roasting, use olive oil spray to lightly coat both sides of the eggplant slices. Season them with fresh pepper, too.
The Zucchini
Do the same with the zucchini slices, but cut them into uniform 1/4-inch slices. 
Turn slices frequently until most of the moisture is cooked out.
The Red Bell Pepper
I prefer to cut up peppers before broiling, so I don’t have to deal with the seeds when it’s all slippery. Press down firmly to flatten for even blistering under the broiler. 
When the peppers are blistered all over, transfer them to a dish and cover it with a lid or foil. 
After about 20 minutes, the skins will be loosened for easy removal.
The Onions
Slice the white and pale green parts of the leeks and swish them around in cold water. Allow time for sandy grit to settle to the bottom of the bowl. 
After draining and pressing the leeks dry, saute them in a little olive oil until softened and lightly browned.
The Tomatoes
The only classic ratatouille ingredient remaining is tomato, and though my ingredients photo displays a big, lovely heirloom tomato from the farmers’ market, I thought better of it when I began cooking my ratatouille. The heirloom tomato would have been full of seeds and too juicy for this dish, so I cast it aside and used half a can of San Marzano tomatoes instead to produce a fusion sauce, together with the roasted red pepper and a healthy dose of garlic. This sauce was similar to the roasted red pepper sauce that my husband, Les, discovered last year, but it leans more toward tomato than pepper. It was exactly what this recipe needed.
Saute minced garlic and tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil until saucy. 
For depth, add in about 1/4 cup dry white wine (or vermouth, as I’ve used here). Simmer several minutes to cook off the alcohol flavor. 
Add the roasted red pepper pieces to simmer for the last few minutes, then whiz it up in the blender or food processor until smooth.
Putting it all together
Assembling and finishing my ratatouille lasagna roll-ups was a cinch! I par-cooked the lasagna noodles until they were soft and flexible, spread the ricotta mixture onto them, layered the eggplant, zucchini and leeks and rolled them up!
Spread about 3 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture onto the par-cooked lasagna noodles. 
Layer on the sauteed leeks, eggplant and zucchini slices, and roll them up! 
Carefully place the rolls (end side down) into a thin layer of sauce. Place them close together in a single layer. 
Evenly pour the roasted red pepper-tomato sauce over the ratatouille roll-ups. 
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake at 350° F for about 50 minutes. 
Be gentle when removing the baked roll-ups. I used a rubber spatula and slotted spoon to lift them from the baking dish.
First ratatouille of the summer! 🙂
Oh, and that plump, juicy heirloom tomato I mentioned found its way instead to a BLT, which we enjoyed as a separate meal on freshly baked sourdough bread with local greens and some pastured pork bacon (also from the farmers’ market).
Who needs a garden, anyway? 😉
Comfort du Jour 
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