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Seasonal Cooking with The Red Apron

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Too busy to cook?  The Red Apron is a brilliant business that offers a fresh meal service for delivery or pick-up, plus a retail store well stocked with a selection of fresh and frozen prepared meals, fresh bread, local preserves and sweet treats.  And here’s the big bonus - they cook all of their meals from ’scratch’!   Their philosophy is to give clients an opportunity to rediscover the taste of good food that takes time to prepare, and to get people ‘back to the table’ around fresh, wholesome meals made with local and seasonal ingredients.  The Red Apron cooks with local, hormone and antibiotic free meat, organic dried goods (beans, pasta, rice, flour, sugar), and fresh produce from local growers.  You can check them out at www.redapron.ca, or at their retail shop at 571 Gladstone Avenue. 

Jennifer and Jo-Ann, the lovely ladies at the Red Apron, have shared with us a simple seasonal recipe for Ratatouille Strudel.  Here’s the recipe, and read on below for my wine picks!

 Ratatouille Strudel 

This is a recipe we developed to make use of all those beautiful local vegetables which are at their peak in September.  We have often modified this recipe by adding either White or Black Beans, and substituting Aged Cheddar or diced Brie for the Mozzarella. This Strudel makes a wonderful Vegetarian Main Course, or can be an elegant appetizer to start off a fall feast!

 

2 medium tomatoes diced
2 large garlic cloves, diced
½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium eggplant, cut into cubes
1 large onion medium diced
1 bell peppers (green, red, or yellow), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium zucchini quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/4-inch-thick pieces
2  cups of shredded mozzarella
1 or 2 puff pastry sheets thawed (depending on size – ours are 10×15)
1 egg (for egg wash)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1.  Cook onions in 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Transfer onions to a large colander which is placed over a large bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and cook bell peppers until softened.  Transfer the peppers to the colander with the onions.  Continue this process with the eggplant and the zucchini.  Finish with the tomatoes and transfer to the colander.  Let the vegetables drain while they cool.
2.  When the vegetables are cool, transfer to a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste, and mix in the mozzarella.  Lay out your puff pastry sheet on a sheet of parchment directly on a baking sheet with the long side facing you.  Mound the ratatouille mixture down the middle of the sheet from one end to the other, leaving enough room for the puff pastry to close with a 1 inch overlap.  Fold one edge of the puff pastry up and over the mound, and egg wash the other edge.  Roll the strudel over so that the puff pastry seam is on the bottom and the edges overlap one inch.  If you have enough filling, make a second strudel.
3.  Brush the top of the strudel with the remaining egg wash.  Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 25-35 minutes, until the puff pastry is golden brown.  Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serve immediately
 

Serves 4-6 people as a main course or 8-12 people as a side dish or appetizer.

Stacey’s wine picks … this recipe makes the most of the bounty of the harvest, and with such gorgeous local produce to cook with, it’s only natural to pair a local wine with this dish.  The provençal-inspired combination of vegetables screams rosé, but if you’re ready to move on to more autumnal flavours, I’ve recommended a red as well. 

WILDASS ROSÉ 2007
VINTAGES 71712 | $19.95 | VQA Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, Canada
 
ROSEHALL RUN CUVÉE COUNTY CABERNET FRANC 2007
VINTAGES 122267 | $18.95 | VQA Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada

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