Matt-atouille (ma-ˌta-ˈtwē)

Matt-atouille (ma-ˌta-ˈtwē)

(ratatouille with braised sausages)


Sure. I get it. You've had one of those weeks. You can't look at another piece of chicken. You are one more Pinterest-crock-pot-recipe disaster from taking an ax to your cooktop like you were Jack Nicholson in the Shining. 

You want comfort food. You crave it. Something Italian perhaps? Maybe some form of sauce covering everything? 

BUT.

You are on a diet. No pasta! Or only limited supplies of pasta… and you kinda had your allowance of carbs for the day… whoops. 

There in lies your dilemma. And here lies your solution…

The dish is loosely based on the French classic zucchini, eggplant, and tomato stew, but with an Italian twist - the addition of sweet basil sausage and herbs like basil and oregano. 

Now then, back the talking about making your face happy. 

First, we assemble most of the ingredients. 

Two red bell peppers
Two-three zucchini (depending on size)
One large eggplant (or more, it's up to you)
One 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
Half of a small onion
Three cloves of garlic
Three to four sprigs of oregano
Four to five sprigs of sweet basil
Two to three sprigs of thyme
One package of Italian Sausage
A tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
A pinch of red pepper flakes 

NOTE: This is where this can become a "pick-your-adventure" type dish. If you don't like zucchini or eggplant, find another vegetable or two you like and throw them in.

And for the hardware, grab a knife, cutting board, a cast iron skillet (medium-large), a foil-lined sheet pan with lip (or any oven safe pan with a lip), a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover your cast iron skillet, and your handy dandy kitchen sheers.

Chop, chop, chop.

Preheat oven to 450.

Now, start hacking away at the eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers. Well, maybe hack isn't the right word. Maybe just dice everything into one inch pieces… remembering to remove the tough outer skin from the eggplant (if you like it, keep it, skin optional…)

And once you have a lovely assortment of diced vegetables, add them to your sheet pan (foil-lined for easy cleanup…). Then add 2 tsp of olive oil and a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Give the veggies a quick toss to coat, then off to the oven.

However, if your oven hasn't beeped or chirped or done something to alert you the fact it did what you told it to do (get hot), toss that pan in anyway.

These guys will roast for 15-25 minutes. Of course, that is with you taking it out of the oven and giving it a quick stir a couple of times. Basically, cook them until just tender.

WAIT!!! Don't wander off! This thing is half done! Remember the sauce! The sausages!
The… Hot tub?!? (I will explain later.)

After carelessly tossing a pan of vegetables into your oven, put that big ol' cast iron skillet on the stove and crank it up to medium to medium-high. Once it is sufficiently hot, put all those lovely sausages into the skillet. No oil. You don't need it.

And yes, I know. I can feel someone reading this and saying, "WHOOAAA!! Hey there, buddy! You said this was a DIET dish. Like for folks on a diet. What in tarnation is that there Italian sausage doin' there!?!"

Well. This is a kinda diet dish. Feel free to make it with Italian Turkey sausage. It has half the fat of regular sausage. Or you could do a vegetarian version, adding mushrooms and a little extra olive oil to the pan. Or use a boneless, skinless chicken breast (salt and pepper them first!) and use a little olive oil before adding them to the pan. Or even some ground beef or lamb. So there, Mr. (or Ms.) Tattle-tale, I have given you several lower and low fat options.

Hot tub creation, complete.

Now then, where were we? Oh yes, hot tub.

Once the sausages are browned on one side (3-5 minutes), turn them over to brown the other side and add the onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the same pan. Sauté for a few moments until fragrant (60-90 seconds). Then add your can of tomatoes, all of your herbs, and one quarter cup of water. Stand back when you do. The pan will steam and hiss and bubble at you. And when I say drop your herbs in, I mean drop them in. No chopping. No carefully picking only the leaves off the stems. No. Throw them in. Also, just a little salt and pepper.

Drop the heat to Medium-Low.





Basically, you end up with a delicious marinara-ish hot tub for your sausages (or if you decided to be a little more fat conscious, your other meat or veggie choice… we don't judge here).

And again, I can feel someone wincing.

Origami for cooking...

"BUT WAIT!?!?!" you cry out. "My cabinets! My countertops! My backsplash! My favorite white shirt I tragically chose to wear today! Everything will be covered in red dots from the bubbling sauce."

And that is why you need a cover for your hot tub. This is where the parchment paper comes in. This is a technique I learned from Thomas Keller, chef at the French Laundry (and by learned from, I mean I read it in his cookbook).

First, fold the paper in half. Then, in half again. Then cut a rounded edge to the paper the approximate radius of your pan (half of the full width). Now, you have a weird snow cone shape. Then, cut the tip off and then open.

Who wants a plain snowflake?

You now have a vented lid that is disposable and will let some steam out, while keeping 98.6325% of the splatters in. That, and you may have not followed all the instructions for making a snowflake in grade school…


Now, place your "lid" on top of your hot tub. Yes, it should fall in. It is made of parchment. Every so often (3-4 min) carefully lift up the paper with tongs and stir the sauce where you can.

At this point, it has become a waiting game!

After 10-15 minutes your sausages will be done. There is no fancy trick for this. Just cook them until they are done (approximately 165 F internal temp).

Remove the pan from heat and/or turn off burner. Remove the sausages from the pan to a heat resistant plate and tent with foil. At this point you can also remove the herbs (see it is easy to pick up the big sticks of herbs floating around, isn't it?) and discard.

Mmmm… what is that amazing smell? It is probably your pan of roasting vegetables. Check for doneness and after removing from the oven slowly add all the vegetables to the pan of sauce. It will seem like there is not enough for them, but everything will mix and mingle just fine. Let it sit for a second while you slice your sausages for easy plating.

Best way to serve is a large scoop of Matt-atouille and a link of sausage (or other lower fat meat or whatever… no judgement) dusted with scattering of fresh julienned basil leaves or a little parmesan (DO NOT use the stuff in the can, so help me).

The END! And yes, my clever naming of the dish can be altered. When you make it and add mushrooms or whatever your take on it is, it becomes be Jerry-atouille. Or Carol-atouille. Or whatever-your-name-is-atouille

And I missed cleaning up a spot right there…      /\

P.S. - While meat substitutions are discussed, I understand some of you don't like vegetables. Or just flat out like pasta better. And that is fine.

Follow the same directions for the sausage and the sauce.

Wait until your pasta is just before al dente, then use tongs to add your pasta to the pan after removing the sausages and herbs. Keep it on the heat at Medium Low so the pasta can finish cooking in your sauce. Then, grab a big bowl and go to town on your pasta, my friend.