I ❤️ U (L x Reader)

10: Ratatouille

It was midnight when you finally set the book down, and your stomach was roaring with hunger. You had nearly finished the story and had a few ideas of what to do next. But one couldn't work on an empty stomach.

Avoiding the hole in the floor, you walked to the kitchen to see what you had.

"More than I thought..." You opened the fridge to see it basically fully stocked. "I supposed the groceries were just delivered this week."

Eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and a plethora of fresh herbs greeted you as you opened the crisping drawers of your refridgerator. Grabbing one of each, then reconsidering and grabbing one more zucchini and several more tomatoes, you placed the spread onto your glorious counter.

"I don't normally like vegetables like this... but I'm in the mood for some savory home cooking. And I'm going to need some energy to figure out my next step. So it's got to be ratatouille." You smiled at the dish you had learned to make long ago. In fact, it was one of the earliest dishes that you had learned to make, taught by Wammy and fed to all the kids at Wammy's house.

From the dark reaches of your pantry, you withdrew a whole head of garlic and one yellow onion to help flavor the stew-like dish. Adding the dried spices of pepper and paprika and the two alcohols of red wine and sherry vinegar completed the recipe list.

"Well, excluding salt and oil, duh." You smacked your head.

With a deep breath, you tried to clear all thoughts of Lawliet from your mind. Everything would come crashing down like a tsunami soon, and this might be your last chance at peace and calm. Cooking often did that for you. Lawliet would joke that you went to your "smokey place", teasing you about the times when you weren't so great at cooking.

You chopped up the eggplant quickly and then placed eggplant pieces in colander over your sink. You sprinkled with salt, the ultimate flavor enhancer. You'd have to leave it out for twenty minutes as the eggplant sweats out its bitterness and then pat it dry. That part was tedious but would go by quickly.

In a large heavy pot you heated two tablespoons of your preferred oil over medium heat until it was shimmering but not smoking-- a tough skill to master. Then, you added onions, cooking and stirring regularly, until translucent which took about five minutes. Then, you added your bell peppers-- red peppers and green peppers-- and cooked for another four minutes, and continued to stir. This was your favorite part because the smells just permeated the whole house and everything got so warm. You then added the garlic, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, wine, and fresh thyme springs. You stirred in the black pepper, paprika, rosemary and seasoned with kosher salt to taste.

At this point, you had to raise the heat to medium-high and bring everything to a boil for five minutes, stirring occasionally. After the five minutes, you turned heat down, covered and cooked over low heat for twenty minutes or so.

Then, it was done. You removed the ratatouille from the heat, tasted it and adjusted the salt to your liking. After you added the sherry vinegar and a generous drizzle of oil with fresh basil, you scooped it into a bowl-- noting that you had once again made too much.

"But not for long." You smiled a small smile.