Ratatouille Recipe - A Perfect Autumn Food
Bonjour mes amis, and welcome to another recipe post. Ratatouille is the quintessential French vegetable dish that's colourful, healthy, easy to make and delicious. You may have seen recently on our socials, Instagram or Facebook, that we shared how we cooked Ratatouille to celebrate the arrival of all our new copper pots and the start of autumn in France.
Ratatouille seemed an obvious choice to mark the autumnal equinox with its rich fall colours, pleasingly reflecting in the copper pan, and yummy flavour. I think the colours of courgettes, zucchini, onions, tomatoes and yellow peppers mixed together are reminiscent of autumn. What do you think?
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Antique copper pots that are unlined are great for decorating, but not safe for cooking. I prefer new copper pots for cooking with their superior conductivity and even base temperature, and you can’t poison yourself! My antique copper pots and pans are decor items only, that add a homely patina to my kitchen shelves.
Cooking ratatouille can be done either in a pan on the stovetop, or in a baking dish in the oven. Either method tastes wonderful and the choice is really yours. You'll need a deep large saucepan for stovetop cooking and a large baking dish if oven baking your vegetables. I've cooked ratatouille both ways, but I prefer the stovetop version as the cutting of the vegetables is more rustic with less precise slicing, and therefore it's quicker to prepare. Below you'll find the methods for cooking both versions, so take your pick, and enjoy this traditional French vegetable dish.
Ratatouille Recipe
Ingredients for both methods
1 large aubergine (eggplant)
2 courgettes (zucchinis)
1 large red pepper
1 large yellow pepper
4 large tomatoes
4 tbsp olive oil
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
½ teaspoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small sprig of fresh thyme, basil and bay leaf
Method for Stovetop Ratatouille
Begin by preparing the vegetables and setting aside each vegetable separately.
Roughly dice the onions and crush the garlic.
De-seed the yellow and red peppers and cut into similarly sized pieces.
Cut the aubergines in half and then half again, cutting each quarter into roughly four cubes.
Cut the courgettes into roughly 3cm slices and then cut in half.
For the tomatoes, remove the skins by scoring the bottom of each fruit and placing in a bowl of boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove the tomatoes, peel off the skins and roughly chop into similarly sized pieces keeping seeds and juice.
Heat the oil in a pan over a low to medium heat and fry the crushed garlic and onions until soft and golden then add the peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Remove garlic, onions and peppers from pan and set aside.
Add the aubergines to the pan and fry until lightly browned all over then remove and set aside.
Now add courgettes to the pan and fry till lightly browned. Return garlic, onions, peppers and aubergines to the pan and add tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf, thyme and basil. Season with salt and pepper and turn heat to low. Slowly cook for 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
Serve hot with crusty fresh baguette.
Method for Baked Ratatouille
Coat your baking dish with 2 tbsp of olive oil and heat your oven to a moderate 180° C.
Begin by preparing the vegetables and setting aside each vegetable separately.
Peel and slice the onions and crush the garlic.
De-seed the yellow and red peppers and cut into slices.
Cut the aubergines into slices 5mm thick.
Cut the courgettes into slices 5mm thick.
For the tomatoes, remove the skins by scoring the bottom of each fruit and placing in a bowl of boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove the tomatoes, peel off the skins and then cut into 5mm thick slices. Keep seeds and juice.
Now add all vegetables to your dish so that they alternate and repeat. You can layer them flat if you wish, but for a traditional look, layer the vegetables edge up (see photo above) until all sliced vegetables are used. Add tomatoe juice and seeds to dish. Drizzle remaining oil over the layered vegetables.
Sprinkle sugar over the top of the layered vegetables, add the bay leaf, thyme and basil to the top and season with salt and pepper.
Cook in oven for 45 minutes and check vegetables by piercing with cake skewer. If not soft and ready to eat, cook for a further 10-15 minutes depending on your oven, and thickness of layered vegetables.
Serve hot with crusty fresh baguette and cooked Toulouse sausages.
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