Ratatouille

I haven't seen the movie yet! I kept thinking Ratatouille was the name of the cute rat and then I saw Nandita's (of Saffron Trail) Ratatouille with Cochiglie rigate and I thought "That sounds like a dinner with the movie, but how did they bring their dinner in the theatre (coz the movie is not on DVD yet)?". I am glad I read ahead and found what Ratatouille actually was :) So, I did try the yummy treat using Nandita's recipe. My only changes - I didn't have thyme, so I skipped that. I used japanese eggplant instead of the roasting variety. And I was in a time crunch so I used canned chopped tomatoes instead of fresh ones. Canned tomatoes are usually more tart, so next time I would like to use fresh tomatoes. We had Ratatouille with conchiglie ( = shell pasta Pronunciation: con-KEEL-yay), topped with fresh basil and a cherry tomato (from my colleague's kitchen-garden) with some Italian flat bread on the side.

I *loved* the taste, the fennel tasted wonderful and took the flavor to a different level. Fresh basil gave the preparation the perfect kick! Hubby declared there was 'some' flavor in the pasta that he didn't like - he couldn't pin-point what though! That makes life a little harder as I don't know what not to use the next time I make it :)

But overall, it made a very delicious, filling, healthy dish bursting with flavors! That's exactly how I like my food :) Thanks for the great recipe Nandita!