Ratatouille

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Ratatouille

Ratatouille


Ratatouille is a traditional peasant stew, originating from Nice in the Provence region of Southern France.  There seem to be numerous recipes for ratatouille but I wanted to create a version that was a far cry from those overcooked dishes that I had as a vegetarian teenager.

In my version, I've tried to reduce the cooking time so that the individual vegetables keep their distinct flavours and textures.


Traditional recipes use thyme but I prefer marjoram, a lovely herb that is similar to oregano but has a sweeter, earthy flavour that goes really well in this dish.  It's delicious served on it's own with crusty bread, or with oily salmon or even used in a delicious vegetarian lasagne.

Ingredients

Ingredients

2-4 tablespoons of olive oil

1 red onion

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 courgette

½ aubergine

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of dried marjoram

1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

2 tablespoons of tomato puree

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

Seasoning

Method

Method

  1. Cut the onion, peppers, courgettes and aubergine into 1 cm dice, keeping the ingredients separate.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy based, lidded sauté pan, over a low to medium heat.
  3. When the oil is up to temperature add the peppers and onions.
  4. Scatter over the dried marjoram and stir to combine. 
  5. Sauté until the onion has softened and the edges of the pepper have started to turn golden brown.
  6. Remove the mix from the pan and set aside.
  7. Pour a further tablespoon of olive oil into the hot pan and add the diced courgette. 
  8. Sauté for a few minutes until the courgette starts to colour.
  9. Remove from the pan and set aside with the onion and peppers.
  10. Add a further tablespoon (or more as required)of olive oil to the hot pan and throw in the diced aubergine.
  11. Sauté until the aubergine has softened and started to turn golden brown.
  12. Return the peppers, onions and courgette to the pan and stir to combine.
  13. Crush the garlic cloves and add those to the pan.  Cook for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring all of the time.
  14. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and add the tomato puree and red wine vinegar. 
  15. Season well then stir again to combine.
  16. Increase the heat and once the mixture is bubbling, lower the heat, cover and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes.

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