France / Main
Ratatouille
A Provençal vegetable stew where each vegetable is cooked separately before they meet — otherwise it turns to mush.
Ingredients
- Aubergine, in 2 cm cubes1
- Courgette, in cubes2
- Bell pepper2
- Tomatoes, ripe, peeled600 g
- Onion1
- Garlic3 cloves
- Olive oil6 tbsp
- Thyme3 sprigs
- Basil, at the end1 pinch
- Salt and pepperto taste
Quantities are auto-calculated from the original recipe as a guide. Items without numbers (e.g. “to taste”) are not changed.
Method 6 steps
Fry the aubergine over high heat in two spoons of oil until the edges brown, then set it aside. Aubergine drinks oil instantly — do not add more, it gives it back later.
In the same pan, fry the courgette until golden, about four minutes, and add it to the aubergine. It should stay firm.
Fry the pepper until soft with a few charred spots and set it aside as well.
In the remaining oil, sweat the onion until soft, add the garlic and thyme and give it half a minute, until fragrant.
Add the tomatoes and cook them down over medium heat into a thick sauce, about twenty minutes. It should hold on a spoon rather than run off it.
Return the vegetables to the pan, season and warm them through together for ten minutes over low heat. Take it off, add the basil and let it stand — ratatouille is better warm than hot.
