Are you looking for a fresh, tasty recipe that you can make with items you find at the Farmer's Market? Here's a recipe you will love! This shop has been compensated by CollectiveBias, Inc. on behalf of its advertiser. All opinions and ideas are my own. #PickedAtPeak #CollectiveBias
By incorporating fresh vegetables, and Prego® Farmers' Market sauces, your family will be eating more vegetables, and asking for seconds! This dish smells absolutely delicious while it is baking, and you can also make this dish ahead of time, and even freeze it to bake at a later date. Win-Win in my mind!
I love the fact that we have two farmer's markets here in Carbondale, IL, and since the soil in Illinois is SO fertile, we are lucky enough to have lots of options as to what local foods we want to use.
LET'S TALK SAUCE:
- New Prego® Farmers' Market Sauces have market-fresh ingredients, like vine-ripened tomatoes, garlic, and basil, that are picked at the peak of freshness. These new sauces are available at Walmart in the pasta aisle, my favorite aisle of all...
When I first began researching this ratatouille recipe, I found that every recipe traditionally called for a lengthy process of creating a sauce of your own. This recipe will save you so much time, by simply incorporating a jar of Prego® sauce, which makes this dish taste amazing.
This Cotton Market Bag, above, was printed and designed by my friend at Bodega Press. It's one of my favorites!
INGREDIENTS FOR 2-3 SERVINGS:
Squash At The Carbondale Market
- 1 Jar of new Prego® Farmers' Market sauce. I loved the Classic Marinara and the Tomato & Basil.
- 1 Zucchini, sliced very thin
- 1 Yellow Squash
- 1 Chinese Eggplant (the skinny kind)
- Olive Oil & Brush to apply oil
- Fresh Parsley, chopped finely
- Salt and other seasonings as desired
- Circular Baking Dish & Non Stick Cooking Spray
- Foil
Note: The above image shows more vegetables you can add to this recipe, but you can definitely make this with just the few ingredients I have listed.
- Also, you can slice up onions and tomatoes, and layer them in between the other slices.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.) Slice all 3 vegetables (zucchini, squash, and eggplant) very thinly (You can also include slices of onion and tomato here ). I used a Mandolin Slicer, which worked incredibly well for this recipe. CAUTION - Please, please use the guard piece that comes with the machine, because this took a small part of my boyfriend's pinky off and caused a big mess! Poor Bobby...Anyway! He's doing fine now :)
Set veggie slices aside and grab your sauce! It's already time to prepare your dish.
2.) Spray your baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread a thin layer of sauce, roughly 1/4" - 1/2" around the bottom of the dish. I used about 2/3 of the jar of sauce, but ideally 1/2 of a jar would be perfect!
3.) "Shingle" your vegetables, see below. I loved this part! Get about 4-6 veggie rounds in your hand, and alternate colors.
4.) Put the shingled veggies into the baking dish, over the sauce, making sure not to press too hard, because you don't want the sauce on top of the veggies while baking.
5.) Continue the veggie spiral all the way to the center of the dish.
6.) Chop the parsley to sprinkle on top of the dish.
7.) Brush olive oil onto the veggies, carefully as to not get sauce on top of the veggie slices. Add salt and any other seasonings you want to the top of the dish. Garnish with chopped, fresh parsley - this adds so much to the look of your dish!
8.) Lastly, bake the dish at 375 degrees, for roughly 30 minutes covered in foil, then for another 10-20 minutes with the foil off. Once the vegetables have browned, and the sauce has cooked down to a desirable amount, you're done!
