Mr. Ratatouille Meets Ms. Scampi on a Bed of Pasta

Two well-loved, old favorites of mine got together last night, and discovered they never want to separate.  It is true love.  I am serious here, folks.  Take a look at these recipe cards, if you don't believe me.  They've been around for awhile.  Sadly all on their own. 

You don't have to depend upon having some left-overs for this dish.  However, keep in mind that Ratatouille is better on the second day, and just know from the start what a good thing a merger can be.  I did have the left-overs, and happened to pick up some locally raised Kauai shrimp, when the light bulb went off in my brain.

The scampi are briefly rested in a marinade of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, fresh (even though the card says dry, I use fresh herbs) oregano, thyme, salt and pepper, then were seared to perfection.  I usually broil them, but didn't want to turn on the oven.  This is the point at which the partners will meet on your bed of pasta.  If you are using cold ratatouille, heat it up, add the seared shrimp with marinade ingredients, and serve over linguine.

Ratatouille

1 eggplant
1  zucchini
2 medium size tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper
1 onion
1/2 cup (1/4 pint) olive oil
black olives (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Slice the eggplant and zucchini in 1 inch slices, sprinkle with salt and let stand on paper towels for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Then pat dry with towel.  Cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes, dice the onion, slice the tomatoes, and cut the pepper into rings.

Heat half the oil in medium sized heavy saucepan.  Arrange the vegetables in layers with the eggplant at the bottom, then the zucchini, bell peppers, mix in some onion and garlic, sprinkling salt and pepper between, finally the olives, and top with tomato slices.  Pour the remaining olive oil over all, cover and simmer slowly for 40 minutes to an hour. 

Scampi

2 servings
1/4 - 1/2 lb. large shrimp (preferably fresh), peeled and de-veined, but leave the tails on
2 tablespoons olive oil ( notice I eliminated the cup of butter, but don't let me stop you)
1 tablespoon minced oregano or fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon basil leaves, sliced for garnish

Mix together the seasonings, oil and lemon juice in a bowl..  Add the shrimp to the marinade as you clean them.  Let sit for 10 minutes or so.  You can heat the oven to 450F if you are going to broil them.  Place in a shallow baking pan.  Pour sauce over and bake about 5 minutes.  Place under broiler and finish for another few minutes.  I did these in the pot I was going to heat up the ratatouille in.  Got it really hot, added a squirt of olive oil and quickly seared them til pink, then added the marinade and ratatouille, heating everything up together.  Garnish with slivers of fresh basil and serve over your al dente linguine.

I really don't know what the two dishes think about each other, but we liked their marriage a lot. Totally awesome!  It was my imaginary bistro meal in the South of France.  Summertime, too many tourists, but the food is fantastic where we are. To be shared with Hearth 'n Soul Blog Hop so as not to hog all the goodness.