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Classic Ratatouille
My take on the French classic. Fun fact: the signature dish Rémy serves at the end of Disney’s Ratatouille isn’t technically a ratatouille. It’s a tian, an artful arrangement of sliced vegetables atop a tomato sauce base. Ratatouille, on the other hand, is more of a stew. It usually involves cooking chopped vegetables with a good amount of olive oil and Provençal herbs until the vegetables are nice and soft and an almost jammy sauce forms. My recipe isn’t 100% traditional but it is delicious! It calls for pre-salting the aubergine and courgette to drive off some of the excess moisture and uses a few non-traditional ingredients.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Vegan, Vegetarian
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 medium courgettes
- 1 large aubergine
- 1½ tsps fine sea salt, plus more
- 2 onions
- 2 large sweet pointed red peppers
- 4 large garlic cloves
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 sprigs fresh basil, plus extra leaves to finish the dish
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 100 ml white wine
- 2 x 400 g tin good-quality whole peeled tomatoes, hand-crushed
- 200 ml vegetable stock
Instructions
- Slice the courgettes into 2 cm thick rounds and chop the aubergine into large chunks. Transfer the courgette and aubergine to a large bowl. Add the 1 ½ tsp salt and toss to combine. Transfer the vegetables to a colander or oven tray and let sit for 30 minutes. The goal is to drive off some of the excess moisture.
- Meanwhile, prep the remaining ingredients: 1) Slice the onions and peppers. 2) Thinly slice the garlic cloves. 3) Tie the thyme, rosemary and basil sprigs together with twine. Set aside.
- Pat the courgette and aubergine dry with kitchen towel.
- Heat a generous glug of extra-virgin olive oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Working in two or three batches, cook the courgette and aubergine, stirring frequently, until they begin to take on some colour, around 5 minutes per batch. You may need to add additional extra-virgin olive oil in between batches. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl.
- Reduce the heat down to medium and add a final splash of extra-virgin olive oil. Add the onions and peppers and season with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, around 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic and herb bundle and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, then add the white wine and cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has evaporated, around 2 minutes.
- Add the tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock and season well with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Stir to combine.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
- Stir the courgette and aubergine into the sauce and turn the heat up to medium. Bring the ratatouille to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for a further 20 minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. Tear in a small handful of fresh basil leaves and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with crusty bread or steamed rice – enjoy!
So Tasty!
Thank you!