Ratatouille

I remember when I watched the animated Pixar movie Ratatouille - that was the first time I ever heard of this vegetable French stew. 🍲

Ratatouille is a French stewed vegetable meal 🥘. It originates from Nice, hence it is sometimes called "ratatouille niçoise". There are different recipes of this widely popular French meal but most commonly they include courgette, aubergine 🍆 , tomato 🍅 , garlic 🧄 , onion 🧅 and some combination of local herbs 🌿.

The meal is full of colour and simply beautiful to look at (read below for presentation). Make sure you slice your vegetables into thin slices - you need to be patient for this bit 😜

I thought about Remy from the movie and decided to try and cook ratatouille. Here is my take on this famous vegetable stew 🍲:

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 60 mins

Rest Time 5 mins

Total Time 1 hr 25 mins

Cooking Method: Baking, Boiling

Cuisine: French

Courses: Dinner, Lunch

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 4

Ingredients

2 aubergines
2 courgettes
4 large tomatoes
1 finely chopped onion
4 minced garlic cloves
2 red bell peppers
fresh basil
500 ml crushed tomatoes/ tomato puree
4 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
fresh thyme (dried thyme works as well)
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
mixed herbs
2 tbsp sugar
200 ml crème fraîche

Method

1
Pour 4 table spoons of vegetable oil in a skillet. Turn the hob to a high temperature

Chop the onion, peppers and mince the garlic

When the oil is hot, place the vegetables and cook until golden ( 8-10 minutes)
2
Once the vegetables have softened, add the crushed tomatoes

Season with mixed herbs, salt, pepper and thyme

Cut the fresh basil and drizzle over the sauce

Add the sugar

Add about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (or a bit more if you are like me and you LOVE balsamic vinegar )
3
Lower the temperature to medium and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes

In the meantime start slicing the vegetables into thin 3-4 mm rounds and stack aside separately

Add the crème fraîche to the sauce to thicken it
4
Pre-heat your oven to 190 C

Pour the sauce into a round-shaped tray

Arrange the sliced vegetables into alternating patterns (e.g. aubergine, tomato, courgette) on top of the sauce, starting from the outer edge and working your way to the middle
5
When you are done, brush some oil on top of the veggies so they don't burn. You can also make your own seasoning, if you wish - in a separate bowl mix oil, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and brush on top of the veggies

Cover with foil and bake at 190C for 45 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft

Take out of the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving
6
Voilà, bon appétit!