summer harvest ratatouille

It has come to my attention that it is not summer everywhere yet (or anywhere technically) but here in AZ things are heating up fast. We are in the triple digits already and my garden is producing plenty summer squash and Japanese eggplant. This dish makes good use of our harvest and tastes AMAZING. It is so easy, just takes some slicing and layering. It is quite healthy and using pre-made pasta sauce makes it even easier.

summer harvest ratatouille
1 package whole wheat angel hair pasta
1 jar of your favorite organic pasta sauce
3 medium size japanese eggplant
~1 pound of yellow squash
handful of fresh basil
1 cup raw almonds
1/8 cup nutritional yeast
some olive oil to drizzle

Preheat your oven to 375. Slice your eggplant into ~1/2 inch slices and do the same with your squash. In a loaf pan pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Layer in slices of squash to cover the bottom, pour sauce to cover the squash, add a layer of fresh basil and layer in the eggplant, then more sauce, basil and continue layering until you are out of veggies or your pan is full. Top with the rest of your pasta sauce.

In your food processor blend the almonds with the nutritional yeast. This acts like a crust on top and is what really makes this dish. You don’t want any big chunks of almonds so keep processing until it is evenly crushed. Put all of your crushed almonds on top of the sauce and drizzle with just a tiny bit of olive oil. Cover and let cook for a half hour, then remove the cover and let cook for another 30 minutes.

Just before your ratatouille is done cook up your whole wheat angel hair al dente according to your package’s directions. It is best to salt the water and to put in a bit of olive oil once you have strained it to keep the noodles from sticking together. Dish up your pasta and slice up a generous piece of ratatouille to top it with. Garnish with more fresh basil if you like and enjoy!