Traditional French Ratatouille Recipe
This Traditional French Ratatouille Recipe is a light and nutritious vegetable stew made with roughly chopped aubergines, courgettes and peppers in a lovely fresh tomato sauce and seasoned with herbs for a comforting dish that everybody loves. It can be enjoyed as a vegan & vegetarian main course or a side dish.
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 252kcal
Ingredients
- 2 aubergines (eggplant)
- 2 courgetters (zucchini)
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 orange pepper
- 400 g cherry tomatoes (13 oz)
- 1 large onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 125 ml olive oil (½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs de Provence
- 3 fresh basil leaves
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Roughly cut the aubergines, peppers and courgettes.
- Heat up a large pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add the chopped aubergines, season them with a pinch of salt, and cook them for 4-5 minutes shaking the pan regularly until they are soft and lightly golden.
- Remove them from the pan, add 2 more tablespoons of oil, and cook the courgettes for 3-4 minutes.
- Remove them from the pan, add more olive oil, and cook the peppers for 3-4 minutes.
- Remove them from the pan, and add the remaining oil.
- Fry the peeled and chopped onion and garlic until golden, then add the tomatoes cut in half.
- Place a lid on the pan, and leave the tomatoes to cook for 3-4 minutes or until mushy.
- Add all the vegetables back to the pan together with the bay leaf, and reduce the heat to low.
- Leave the stew to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Season with salt and pepper, add the herbs and serve then dish hot or cold.
Notes
- Cooking the vegetables separately might seem like an extra step, but it's important for building layers of flavour, rather than just stewing the veggies together.
- A low simmer will help the veggies soak up the tomato juices while keeping their shape, rather than turning mushy.
- Like many Mediterranean dishes, ratatouille develops an even deeper flavour after resting overnight in the fridge, making it an excellent make ahead recipe.
- You can also cook a bigger batch and blend some of it to be used as a base for creamed soups or veggie-packed pasta sauces.
Nutrition
Calories: 252kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Sodium: 408mg | Potassium: 914mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1361IU | Vitamin C: 104mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2mg