Ratatouille

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1. Cut the aubergines in half lengthways. Place them on the board, cut side down, slice in half lengthways again and then across into 1.5cm chunks. Cut off the courgettes ends, then across into 1.5cm slices. Peel the peppers from stalk to bottom. Hold upright, cut around the stalk, then cut into 3 pieces. Cut away any membrane, then chop into bite-size chunks.
2. Score a small cross on the base of each tomato, then put them into a heatproof bowl. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, leave for 20 secs, then remove. Pour the water away, replace the tomatoes and cover with cold water. Leave to cool, then peel the skin away. Quarter the tomatoes, scrape away the seeds with a spoon, then roughly chop the flesh.
3. Set a sauté pan over medium heat and when hot, pour in 2 tbsp olive oil. Brown the aubergines for 5 mins on each side until the pieces are soft. Set them aside and fry the courgettes in another tbsp oil for 5 mins, until golden on both sides. Repeat with the peppers. Don't overcook the vegetables at this stage, as they have some more cooking left in the next step.
4. Tear up the basil leaves and set aside. Cook the onion in the pan for 5 mins. Add the garlic and fry for a further min. Stir in the vinegar and sugar, then tip in the tomatoes and half the basil. Return the vegetables to the pan with some salt and pepper and cook for 5 mins. Serve with basil.

Make it your own

Give the dish a Moroccan twist by frying the onions with 2 tsp harissa paste and stirring in 400g can chickpeas, drained. For a more intense Mediterranean flavour, add 1 tbsp capers, a handful of pitted black olives and a few chopped anchovies. Make it your own Spoon into a gratin dish, sprinkle with crumbs from 2 slices bread and a handful grated parmesan. Drizzle with olive oil and grill until golden. Make it your own Add a deseeded and finely chopped chilli with the garlic for an extra kick.

Latest comments and suggestions

• F1madxxx

  19 January 2008

  F1madxxx rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Very tasty indeed.

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• leona

  21 January 2008

  leona commented on this recipe

  i added a red onion too plus loads of extra tomatos and some tinned tomatos because i felt it was too dry. i also cooked it for much longer than the recepe said but it was delicious. i will definately make it again.

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• Kevin

  04 May 2008

  Kevin rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I had Ratatouille at a motorway service station in the South of France a couple of weeks ago. Believe or not, it was fantastic, and far better than I had ever had in England, where we drown the thing in tomatoes. Let's be clear, the main ingredients are aubergines and courgettes. Anyway, I spent the next week of a camping holiday trying to recreate what I had eaten at the services, and came up with almost exactly the same as the recipe on here. The only difference is that I think life is too short to skin tomatoes, it's not necessary, and I added mushrooms, which seemed to work even if not authentic. Also, I think it is better with fresh thyme, this is more Provencal than basil which gives an Italian flavour, and I’d go for a little red wine instead of vinegar and sugar. The end result for me (and at the services) was a lot mushier than the picture shown, but the vegetables still had some bite and tasted delicious.

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• blair

  28 July 2008

  blair rated this recipe

  

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• Palmers-patch

  04 September 2008

  Palmers-patch rated and commented on this recipe

  

  I tried this recipe with the additional, chilies & ed wine plus 2 tins of chopped tomatoes to keep it moist. I topped it off with breadcrumbs & Parmsan but the cheese scorched slightly under the grill ( need to pay more attention....) and smelt terrible so I scraped it off and it was immediately devoured by 2 hungry magpies on the bird table! So, next time, no cheese, other than that a delicious recipe.

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• hungryrumbles

  30 September 2008

  hungryrumbles rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Liked this, but deviated quite a bit from the recipe to make it more to my taste - as other people have done - I used red onion, extra garlic, loads of tomatoes which I didn't skin or de-seed and used thyme instead of basil because I hate basil and think its over-rated. The juice from the tomato seeds kept it just moist enough without having to resort to tinned tomatoes, and I simmered it for longer than the recipe stated to make it more flavoursome. Its even better the next day. I was slightly puzzled byt the long-winded instructions though - 'chop peppers into chunks' and 'skin tomatoes' (for those who could be bothered) would have sufficed! Had it with walnut bread - a good antidote if you've overindulged on meaty meals. I'm slighly dubious about it counting as 4 of your 5-a-day though. Maybe if you ate the whole lot yourself...

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Ingredients

• 2 large aubergines
• 4 small courgettes
• 2 red or yellow peppers
• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• supermarket pack or small bunch basil
• 1 medium onion , peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves , peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar (any kind)

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Difficulty and servings

Serves 4

Preperation and cooking times

Vegetarian, Super healthy

Ingredients

• 2 large aubergines
• 4 small courgettes
• 2 red or yellow peppers
• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• 5 tbsp olive oil
• supermarket pack or small bunch basil
• 1 medium onion , peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves , peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar (any kind)

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