Meat Week 2022: Julie Golob’s Venison Ratatouille Recipe

Venison Ratatouille 2 Ways

A recipe from Julie Golob
 

Ingredients

      • 1 large yellow squash

      • 1 large zucchini

      • 1 eggplant

      • 1lb. finely sliced venison or ground venison

      • jar of tomato sauce

      • bunch of fresh basil

      • bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley

      • 4 cloves garlic

      • olive oil

      • handful of nuts

      • salt

      • pepper

Instructions

Start with placing a large, oven-safe skillet (I prefer cast iron) on the stove and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

If you’re using ground venison, you’ll be making a meat sauce. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to your skillet and warm to medium-high heat. Add the venison. Salt and pepper it as you brown the meat. If you’re using sliced venison, skip this step.

You can certainly make your own sauce with crushed tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and herbs, but a jar of your favorite chunky tomato sauce will do the trick. Pour the sauce into the skillet with enough to fully cover the bottom. If using ground venison, mix together well.

Next, slice your vegetables into uniform slices. I like mine to be about 1/4” thickness and I make separate stacks for each of the squash and eggplant for easy assembly later.

Finely chop the garlic, basil, parsley and nuts. Peanuts, walnuts, almonds or pistachios all work and feel free to use whatever nuts you like. You can also use a small food processor for this step. Place the mixture in a bowl and add olive oil to the mix until it has the consistency of pesto. Add salt to taste.

With the veggies all prepped, if you’re using sliced venison, now is the time to carve it. For mine I used a portion of a small roast that I sliced to match the width of the vegetables. Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.

Now here’s the fun part! Grab a piece of squash, eggplant, zucchini and a slice of venison (if making this version) and make a stack. I like to make 8-12 stacks before I start arranging them into a swirl in the skillet. Once you’ve filled up your skillet, spoon the herb and nut mixture on top.

Place the skillet into the oven for 50 minutes to an hour. Spoon into bowls and serve with crusty bread to sop up all the tasty juices. Be sure to let me know if you try the recipe! I’d love to know what you think.