There are few dishes more French than ratatouille… my recipe is far from traditional but, dare I say, one of the best you’ll ever taste !
I have been making ratatouille at La Villa for more than 10 years. It’s a great accompaniment (especially in spring & autumn) for a number of main courses and is also great as a vegetable lasagne filling. I’ve read & tried so many recipes and in the last couple of years gone my own way with this version which is far from traditional, but tastes fantastic !
Ingredients (serves 12 as an accompaniment)
- 2 medium size courgettes
- 2 medium size aubergine
- 2 medium size onions
- 2 large red peppers
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of dried basil and 1 table spoon of dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 cans of tomato pulp
- Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 2 teaspoons of caster sugar
Heat your oven to 220.
To prepare the veg, you need to cut both the courgette & aubergine lengthways, about 1 cm thick and then cut into a dice of, roughly, 1cm cubes. Prepare the onion & red pepper so that you cut to a similar size; for the garlic, peel and then finely dice – place all of your prepared veg in a large mixing bowl.
Spring over the dried herbs, salt & pepper and mix well with the spoon. Next, add the olive oil and mix until full combined.
Place a large roasting dish (you may need two) in the oven for a few mins to heat, remove & then pour in the vegetable mix, returning to the oven, remove every 10 mins to stir through.
After about 30 mins the veg should be cooking down nicely. Open your cans of tomato pulp (my go-to is the Mutti brand, pic at the bottom of the recipe), add 1 teaspoon of caster sugar to each can and then pour over the veg, stirring with a large spoon or spatula until the veg is fully coated in the tomato pulp.
Pop back in the oven for a further 15 mins; remove and taste, adjusting the seasoning (salt/pepper/sugar) if needed. You can either serve straight away or chill and then re-heat in a saucepan before placing in your chosen serving dishes.
If using the veg mix for a lasagne filling, allow to cool completely before using. You can store in an air-tight container in your fridge for up to five days.
Bon Appétit !
My go-to tomato pulp, which I also use in my basil & tomato sauce.
