Ratatouille Pizza
Sorry. With a name like In Praise of Leftovers, you are signing up for repeats.
More Summer Ratatouille, this time with eggplant and less tomatoes and peppers than the Ross Lake version. Yancey took some for lunch, we have a small tub still in the fridge, and the rest topped pizza dough. I would likely never make ratatouille and pizza in the same day, so this is definitely a Leftoverist special. As I've mentioned, though, ratatouille has a million uses once you've gone to all the trouble to chop and roast your bounty. We used a bit of mozarella, but you don't even need cheese on this. I think a good vegan pizza is pretty hard to make, but you won't miss anything here. Flavor Central.
We had a really wonderful afternoon. After Yancey's post-shift nap, we took the kids bike-riding and blackberry-picking, then drove past a house we've been stalking online. The price was just reduced, and we're dreaming. We have SO MUCH to do before we're ready to be buyers. Yancey saw a car in the carport, so he knocked and asked if we could look around. That's something I would never do. I love that about him. The seller was there and gladly showed us around. I could go on and on about the perfection of this house--a mild fixer, in our neighborhood, a mid-century modern (Yancey's criteria), a FIG TREE in the backyard. We talked about it over pizza and for the rest of the night. It can't be ours, but it was really a gift that we got to see it. I've been feeling pessimistic, and this helped me picture a possible future. When Yancey's dad spent the night here last week (on the couch), he said, "You guys need a bigger house." I despairingly said, "We're working on it." We are on top of each other, especially with 4 kids on Thursdays and Fridays.
On the way home from our tour, Wyatt asked if we could go out to dinner. Without hesitation, I said, "No, it costs too much money." I am serious about this. Please bear with me if I am Miss Overly Creative with Beans in the next six months. Operation Breathing Room is commencing. When it comes time to leave my kitchen, we'll have to gather for a memorial. I'll think about that later, though.
August 18, 2009
Reader Comments (19)
So many comments, and I've been spending too much time at the office, so I'm going to bulletpoint them:
1) My favorite posts are the ones like this when you do stuff with leftovers - constantly creative. I would've just warmed up the stuff again and said "Bon Appetit" in my best Julia Child voice, but you made pizza. Lovely.
2) I was told that despite the fact that Seattle is absolutely crawling with blackberries, no one bothers to pick them because of the nasty hooked thorns. I was devasted hearing that such a bounty was going to waste. Thanks for proving that wrong.
3) I absolutely believe that you can manifest whatever you want in your life. I've seen it happen too often to deny it, including the arrival of my baby. Get a stack of magazines, clip out pictures of your goals/dreams (the house, the cash, the cookbook deal, the abundant garden, healthy family, etc), and post it somewhere you'll see it everyday. Sounds flaky, but the universe brings it to you.
Hey there - I have been reading for a month or so and just wanted to poke my head out and say hello. I love your approach to food, your writing style and your photos... I've been taking tons of inspiration from your posts. And the spice holster in particular was really helpful when we went to a lake house for the week. In any case, thanks for being you, and for writing about it!
mmm this pizza looks good!! And I really appreciate how you bring up money since it relates to food and everything else. And I love the name - Operation Breathing Room!
When I was paying off my credit card debt I put a post-it with the acronym DRAP on my computer monitor at work so I could see it everyday. DRAP stands for Debt Reduction Action Plan. Now I'm working on an Operation Safety Net and dreaming of a scooter for next summer. Can't get the scooter until the net's in place. I'm going to put a picture of a scooter and a safety net on the frig Beth. Thank you for the online honesty, comradery, and encouragement, Sarah and readers.
I'm loving your title also for the hope we were talking about Saturday night at Deana's. My hope to come home after work most nights during the week and making dinner for myself instead of filling them with gathering and activities. Operation Breathing Room covers the money and the time and the self care realms. I may adopt it and give you credit :)
Gallette and/or Ratatouille pizza after a trip to the Farmer's market Sunday.
xoxo
I adore ratatouille, and I bet it's stellar as a pizza topping! We are trying to cut our spending, too (as is probably almost every damn person in America). It's just our reality right now, and you are so right that those meals out add up.
Hello, dearest. I love your DRAP. I didn't think that much of my title Operation Breathing Room until you latched onto it--it's pretty good! And you can steal it. I support so much your plan to make more space for yourself. I need you to take care of yourself so you can keep taking care of me :)
Hi Michaela! Thanks for poking your head out. I'm happy to "meet" you.
Waking up and reading this today was awesome. I'll be cutting out pictures tonight :)
Hi Sarah, I am so in the same place as you. Many months, especially in the winter, I feed my family of 4 on less then $400. Oddly enough even with that people always accept my dinner invitations. I will admit in the summer when there are no heating bills I do things like by an entire locally raised lamb. However meals like my black bean burgers help to stretch my budget (and stored meat).
http://hippoflambe.blogspot.com/2009/02/black-bean-burgers.html
I hate the feeling of having no money, but at least we eat well.
-Robin
I live in Seattle and I'm always afraid to pick the wild blackberries because I'm afraid they might be sprayed with something. Although now that I'm thinking about it so is most grocery store produce so maybe I should just dig in.
So because I never saw the movie, ratatouille is just a fancy word for dry roasted veggies?
Those black bean burgers look awesome. Thanks for the post. Have you ever had the Septieme vegetarian burgers they make from scratch? Yum. Nice to have a home made version not focused on tofu.
p.s. I'm sending up the flags on your house/space situation too. I love your couch and the nights I've slept on it, but I also have a queen size bed to donate to a future guest room whenever that comes to pass. And I'll be happy to invite myself over to sleep on it :)
Em, Thanks, most of my family loves them. I have not had the Septieme burgers because i have never been to the West Coast. Although a friend of mine from Bellingham, WA says Burlington, VT where I now live and Bellingham have a lot in common.
The burgers are also good crumpled on a salad, on a bun with tahini dressing, eaten cold when the kids aren't around...
-Robin
Ratatouille is a dish of French origins that usually has zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, onions, extra virgin olive oil and herbs, often thyme or herbs de Provence. It can be cooked in the oven or on the stove top. It is one of those dishes that is more then the sum of its parts. My family has always served it at Thanksgiving. It is perfect for using up leftovers like Sarah already stated and it also is infinitely usable as a leftover.
-Robin
From 2nd to 9th grade, I lived in a tiny house with a big yard bordered by a zillion blackberries. My dad made the 3 of us kids pick 1-2 quarts EVERY DAY while they were ripe and we still never picked them all. We fashioned little plastic containers to hang off of our belts so we could pick faster with 2 hands.
We canned a bunch of blackberry jam and ate a bunch of blackberry pies and cobblers. Dad also liked to pick up fresh milk from one of the local farms. (This was before "farmer's markets" were in vogue... I think he would just stop by a farm and see if they would sell milk to him.) This meant we sometimes had fresh cream over fresh blackberries in the morning. Heaven!
Keep in mind, we spent a whole lot of the rest of the time eating beans, rice, hamburger stretched with cornflakes, and 50 cent frozen pot pies...
I love eggplant on pizza! This looks fantastic! I'm jealous you went blackberry picking, that sounds so fun!
yum, so fabulous. It has been on my mind to make some grilled pizzas. Your picture is further convincing with all those caramelized veggies and crispy cheese. i agree on the cheese situation. Take out has made them gooping with cheese, but there is no need to smother good flavors as they are. nice work!
I'm eating your ratatouille pizza right now ... mmm ... heaven! Thanks, Sarah.
Yum, this looks like a great use for extra ratatouille! I came here via google because I just made some ratatouille and it was delicious; now I have a great idea for what else I can use my delicious veggie dish for. Thanks for the creative idea.