With the abundance harvest of zucchini, Ian made a Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Ratatouille. This is very similar to the Mixed Vegetables Relish he did in an earlier workshop. However, since there is lesser variation of vegetables, this can be cooked together instead of individually.
For this Zucchini, Squash and Tomato Ratatouille, Ian used various kinds of tomatoes, i.e. tomato sauce, sun dried tomato and fresh tomato.
Ian told us he uses the organic tomato sauce from Costco for pasta or cook it down for pizza topping.
Ian also used the above canned tomatoes for this recipe.
Ingredients
Ian’s recipe as above, plus chopped onions.
The zucchinis were huge. Just remember to remove the core as they are spongy.
Source: Ian Lai
Instructions
 For the fresh tomatoes, squeeze out excess liquid before cubing them. |
 For the canned whole tomatoes, empty into a bowl and use your hands to mash them up. Do not use food processor as Ian likes them to have some texture to it. |
 Reserves the oil from the sun dried tomatoes for sauteeing the vegetables as they are packed with flavour. Chop the sun dried tomatoes into smaller pieces. |
 Saute the vegetables with the sun dried tomatoes in batches if needed. Season with sea salt. |
 When the vegetables are tender, transfer to a bowl. Add the tomato sauce and the mashed canned tomatoes. Taste and add more salt if necessary. |
 Ladle the hot ratatouille into hot jars. |
 Ian learned from the previous workshop that there was not enough sauce for the Mixed Vegetables Relish. So, he topped the jar with extra mashed tomatoes this time, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles with a none metallic spatula and adjust headspace, if neccessary. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to finger-tip tight.Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to boil and process for the jars for the required amount of time depending on the size of the jars. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should be not flex up and down when center is pressed. Store.
Ian, thank you for the canning workshop again. |
A quick comment on your tomatos. The brand you are using is one of my favorites. Although it is not a true San Marzano as there is no DOP (destination of production which is like Champagne, and Roqueforte cheese) they are better than any of the DOP San Marzanos that I have been able to buy. True San Marzano’s are grown in the volcanic soil at the foot of Mount Vesuvius and are said to be the best tomatos in the world but there are many brands coming and some are better than others. Best brands include LaValle, Francesconi, La Bella, Coluccio, Sclafani, Cento, Cirio, and Vanita most of which can not be found here in Vancouver. If awards are meaningful to you, Food & Wine magazine recently named LaValle San Marzanos the best in a taste test. If I ever find a source I will let everyone know where to find them.
That looks amazing.
Sorry to comment on such an old post. But this recipe is exactly what I want to can with the water bath method. In the post you said you did just that, yet all reading in books and online state that this sort of produce needs to be pressure canned. Did yours turn out ok?
No one died???
I was wondering the same thing… and if waterbath canned, how long was it processed?
I would never water bath can something with low acid vegetables (eggplant, zucs) in the recipe, I would ALWAYS use a pressure canner. I have seen some post that say process in pressure canner for anywhere from 75 minutes to 90 minutes on 10 or 11 pounds of pressure. I am still on the search for the correct, SAFE way to can this recipe.