Ratatouille!

It’s simple to make and so versatile, but when was the last time you tried it?

Not only does it make a substantial main course, it can also be used as a side dish along side all kinds of meat and fish.

For me personally I like it served as a main course with a gooey cheese omelette and buttered French bread. This is how my mother served it when I was a kid, and I have such fond memories of wiping the plate clean of every drop of the rich, full flavoured sauce and melting, cheesy egginess with the last piece of bread.

It’s one of those vegetarian dishes which is so tasty, even meat lovers will thank you for serving it. I’m surprised that it seems to have gone out of fashion, and that it’s not on more menus in the vegetarian section. The only time I seem to notice it is the canned variety in supermarkets.

Ingredients

• 1 Large aubergine (eggplant)
• 1 Large red onion
• 1 Large red pepper (capsicum)
• 2 Courgettes (zucchini)
• 1 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 Cloves of garlic
• 1 Heaped Tsp of dried mixed herbs
• 1 Level Tsp Salt
• ½ Level Tsp ground black pepper
• Olive oil

First slice the courgette and aubergine into 1cm thick slices, now fry them in some olive oil until they start to turn golden brown. Cook them in batches as they won’t all fit in the pan together neatly (not in my frying pan anyway!). Once colour has appeared on both sides put straight into a casserole dish. This stage is important for the final flavour as fried courgette and aubergine is just so delicious! We can’t get that same flavour any other way.

Top and tail the onion and remove the outer skin. Then slice in half lengthways, then in half again lengthways so we have 4 quarters. Now slice them in half through middle so we have 8 chunks of onion.

Chop the pepper the same way first removing the stalk, seeds and membranes. The pieces of onion and pepper should each be about 8 pieces of the same size. We want them fairly big and rustic so don’t chop them down anymore.

Add them to the dish.

Pour your can of tomatoes in and add the herbs, salt and pepper. I sometimes add a little hint more dried basil to the mixed herbs, about ½ a pinch will do if you what to try it. Fill the empty can half full of water, rinse and add to the dish.

Crush or finely chop the 2 garlic cloves and add.

Add a good glug of olive oil, about 2-4 Tbsp should do it.

Olive oil gives a rich, luxurious texture when eating

Mix thoroughly. Place in a preheated oven at 180C, cook for 45 minutes to an hour stirring occasionally.

That’s it! Add a touch more salt and pepper and even a drizzle of good olive oil if you feel it needs it. Serve it as I described above, or try with rice, pasta or even new potatoes.

I really hope you enjoy this simple dish as much as I do. And by the way, any leftovers taste even better the next day!

Did you try it? How did you serve it? Do you have any ratatouille memories?

Author information

The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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