Party Food!

As a vegetarian, I often like to take a dish to a party that will satisfy me completely, in case everything else is meaty. This delicious Ratatouille Tart from Ellie Krieger on the Food Network was a big hit. I love her recipes, she makes delicious food and doesn't make you feel like you need to make too many sacrifices to eat healthily.

I made a few changes, but I pretty much kept with her general recipe.

I also made a really lovely fruit tart that I found last year on Mattbites. This is a sure fire hit every time, and its so easy! I have a reputation for making really healthy food and while this is pretty healthy, butter and graham cracker crust, cream cheese and heavy cream don't exactly make for the healthiest dessert! Please see here for the recipe, I always just follow his exactly!

Ratatouille Tart Ellie Krieger
Crust:
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup whole-grain pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, chopped into small pieces and chilled
3 tablespoons water

Filling:
Olive oil
Cooking spray
1/2 pound thinly sliced eggplant rounds (about 1/3 medium eggplant)
1 zucchini, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (about 8 ounces)
3 medium tomatoes, sliced thinly
1 pepper, sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350f

Add cornmeal to food processor with flour and pulse a couple of times. Add butter, pulse until the butter is incorporated, followed by the water. Pulse again, then press into the base of a 9 inch tart shell.

Bake for 15 mins.

Meanwhile, spray two baking sheets with oil and arrange the vegetables for roasting, brushing with oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Increase the temperature of the oven to 400f when the cornmeal crust is done and roast for about 10-15 mins.

Arrange the eggplant onto the crust, cover with 1/3 of the cheese and half of the basil. Layer the zucchini over the top, then sprinkle on another 1/3 of the cheese and the rest of the basil. Continue with the remainder of the veggies, then sprinkle on the rest of the mozerella and the parmesan. Reduce the oven to 350f and bake for around 25-30 mins until the cheese is melted.