Ratatouille with Goats Cheese Balls

FEATURING MONJAY MEZZA’S MARINATED GOATS CHEESE BALLS

Not much needs to be done to enjoy our products, Break open a packet of your favourite crackers or cut a carrot into batons and dip away. Or simply arrange our delicious finger foods on a platter and watch them crowd around. But the potential of our range is so much more, and we want to prove it. So we've created our very own recipe page to show you the versatility of our products. Dips to marinate or bake with, finger food transformed into main meals - the limit is your imagination.

Serves 2 | Prep time: 20 mins

Few dishes celebrate seasonal produce better than ratatouille. This classic French dish is a symphony of vibrant colours, robust flavours and the unmistakable essence of Mediterranean cuisine. Like all dishes that have been around longer than we care to think about, there is no ‘correct’ way of doing it; it comes down to personal preference.

Ratatouille is a combination of two French words: rata meaning stew, and touiller meaning to stir or toss. Some people really stick hard with the stew part of the name and cook their beautiful vegetables for several hours until the dish is a homogenous lumpy mess of indistinct flavours. You can guess what we think of that.

We suggest going about things differently.

Want the perfect ratatouille? Cook the vegetables separately!

Different vegetables require different cooking times. A zucchini, for instance, may not need to be cooked for as long as capsicum.

The key behind the perfect ratatouille is cooking each vegetable separately; this way, each is cooked to perfection, fried gently instead of steamed, and taken off the heat when it still has some body and character. While all the vegetables will be united by the end and served together, we want each to carry its weight, demand the same level of attention and be distinguishable on the pallet – while still creating a harmonious dish.

Sounds difficult? It really, really isn’t.

Our ratatouille doesn’t require any more effort

You may think this is a more labour-intensive ratatouille than simply throwing all the veggies in together, but it isn’t. If all veggies are in the same pan at the same time, they are going to take longer to cook and a lot more stirring to ensure they get their fair share against the heat. In the end, some chunks of veggies are nicely browned, while many have simply been steamed and lack the benefits of the maillard reaction that truly highlights their beautiful flavours.

So don’t be put off by the idea of cooking each vegetable separately; it doesn’t take longer, and it tastes a whole lot better. Let’s get to it.

Ingredients

Olive oil
3 zucchinis, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 eggplant, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 red onion, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 large capsicum or 2 small ones, cut into bite-sized pieces
A garlic clove
A few sprigs of thyme
A small bunch of basil, leaves picked
Monjay’s Goats Cheese Balls
A baguette

Method

Put two frypans over a medium heat. Let them heat up and then add about a quarter of a cup of olive oil to each. Add the chunks of zucchini to one pan and the eggplant to the other. Fry until nicely browned. They don’t have to be cooked through at this point.

Remove the zucchini and the eggplant from the pans and place in a sieve to drain the oil.

Repeat the process with the capsicum and the onion in the separate frypans, using another quarter cup of olive oil in each pan. When the onion is softened slightly and translucent, add the garlic and the thyme sprigs, cook for a few more minutes and then take off the heat.

When the capsicum has got some colour, add it to the pan with the onion, and add also the eggplant and zucchini. Put it back on a low heat, cover and cook for fifteen to twenty minutes.

Finally, sprinkle with the basil leaves just before serving. Slice the baguette lengthwise and toast each half under the grill. Spread each with some of our goats cheese balls and serve alongside the ratatouille.

Monjay Mezza is the home of traditional Middle Eastern Dips, Finger Food and Desserts.