Ratatouille topped with Drop Biscuit

Ratatouille is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish. It is usually served as a side dish, but sometimes it can become or be served as a meal. The key ingredients are tomatoes, garlic, onion, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, basil, thyme, marjoram, and carrots. When making ratatouille at home, I like to sauté my veggies separately from the tomatoes. I also like making a spicy tomato sauce to add under the veggies. It adds great flavor to the veggies by the way. In order to turn this wonderful side dish into a meal at home I like to add some drop biscuits on top. Yummelicious!!!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, diced

12 oz cherry tomatoes, cut in half

2 zucchini

2 summer squash

1 red bell pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon of rosemary, thyme, marjoram and fresh basil (you may substitute fresh herbs with dried herbs)

salt and pepper

Olive Oil

8 oz can tomato sauce

1/3 cup vegetable broth

1 tablespoon arrowroot (any sauce thickener will work)

1 tablespoon Honey (or sugar)

Drop Biscuit: 

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/4 cup honey

2 TSP. baking powder

1/4 TSP. baking soda

1/4 TSP. salt

1/3 Cup Plain Yogurt (or buttermilk)

4 TBS. Cold Butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

For the Drop Biscuit:

In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or knife or your fingers, cut in the cold butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add the honey and the yogurt. Fold mixture until everything is well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until ready to use.

For the Ratatouille:

In a bowl,  toss zucchini, squash, red bell pepper with 5 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper. Saute veggies on high heat in a black skillet or a skillet you can place in the oven. Try not to over cooked the veggies when you are sauteing them. You still want them slightly crunchy because they will soften up in the oven. After you have sauté the veggies, now is time to cook the onions. I like to cook my onions on medium high heat until they turn slightly brown, but still have a slight crunch to them. Make sure you add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and pinch of salt to the onions when you start cooking them. After the onions are done, you can pour it into the same bowl with the rest of the veggies. 

Return pan to medium heat and add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, vegetable broth, garlic, cayenne pepper and herbs. Add honey or sugar to the tomato mixture. Taste to see if the bitterness from the tomato sauce is gone; if not then continue to add honey or sugar until it reaches your taste likeness. Simmer and add the arrowroot or desire thickener until tomatoes are cooked down and mixture is stew-like, about 10 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.

Next, layer the vegetables on top of the tomato sauce.  Divide the biscuit dough into six balls or you can use an ice-cream scoop and place each ball on top of the ratatouille mixture. Transfer skillet or pan to oven and cook until biscuits are golden brown, 18 to 25 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Make Fridays A Little More Special Than Normal!!