Ratatouille recipe is a delicious, vegan dish, very traditional into the Southern France cuisine. These stir-fried mixed vegetables are perfect as an appetizer as well as a side dish! In the tradition, the ingredients are slowly stewed until creamy along with Provencal Herbs, but over the years the cooking time is got reducing progressively, so according to your preference cook the ratatouille 30 mins up to 3 hours!
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- 1 (500 g) big eggplant
- 3 (500 g) bell peppers, mixed color
- 18 oz (500 g) ripe tomatoes
- 2 (500 g) zucchini
- 1 (500 g) big onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 sprigs thymus
- 2 sprigs marjoram
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 leaves basil
- 3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp rock salt
- to taste table salt (optional)
TRADITIONAL RATATOUILLE RECIPE AND ITS EVOLUTION
The Ratatouille recipe is a tasty example of the French rural tradition, and composed of ingredients easy to grow in a private garden. For this reason, although the official recipe indicates exact ingredients, it’s easy to deduce Ratatouille was originally prepared with any vegetable typical of Southern France.
The term Ratatouille appears for the first time in the French cookbooks at the end of XVIII Century and indicates any coarse stew.
The first official Ratatouille recipe is published on 1930. The consistency of the original version is creamy, and vegetables overcooked up to 3 hours. Over the years, the recipe is evolved reducing the cooking time. Currently, beyond the purists’ opinion, the Ratatouille is slow cooked 30 to 60 minutes, after stir-fried.
RATATOUILLE MOVIE VERSION
In 2007, the Disney movie “Ratatouille” made the homonym dish worldwide famous. The recipe prepared by the smart little mouse Remy at the end of the movie is inspired by the Vegetable Confit Byaldi of the famous American Chef Thomas Keller, published in his “1999 Cookbook”.
RATATOUILLE RECIPE
Rinse the eggplant, then reduce it into cubes 1 inch per side. Now, pour the eggplant dices in a colander and stir along with 2 tbsp of rock salt. Place the colander a couple of hours over a bowl and let the bitter juice fall down. Gently, press down and stir the eggplant occasionally to speed up the process. Do not use table or kosher salt; otherwise, the eggplant will be too salty. After that, discard the dark juice, then rinse the eggplant discarding all the salt, and dry them with a clean cloth.
STIR-FRIED VEGETABLES
Meanwhile, eggplant is cleaning out, peel and reduce the onion into flakes as big as eggplants cubes. Pour the onions into a thick-bottomed heavy pot, along with a splash of oil, a pinch of salt, and 2 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic. Cook over low heat until the onion starts to caramelize.
Waiting for the onions be ready, rinse and reduce the zucchini into dices half size the eggplant cubes. Now, cut the bell peppers in half, then discard the stems, seeds, and white parts. Dice at the same size of the zucchini.
Stir-fry the bell peppers in 1 tbsp of oil over high heat, until they start to brown. Pour the peppers aside into a dish, then cook the zucchini in the same way.
Now, pour 1 cup of extra-virgin olive oil into a small pot. When the oil reach 320° F (160° C), deep fry the eggplants a little at a time, until golden brown, then let them dry over paper towels.
SLOW COOKED RATATOUILLE
Cut the tomatoes into quarts, then discard the seeds and dice at the same size of bell peppers. Now, mince all the herbs except 5 basil leaves. When the onion starts to caramelize, pour the minced herbs and the vegetables into the pot. Cook slowly 30 to 60 minutes until the vegetables are well done but still in shape, stirring occasionally. Eventually, garnish with sliced basil leaves and serve, hot, warm, or at room temperature.
SERVING RATATOUILLE
French Ratatouille is great served as appetizer or side dish, along with boiled rice or potatoes, toasted bread, and grilled meats. I love it also tossed with pasta or to stuff quiche and calzone, delicious!
Did you like this recipe? please click here, leave a comment and vote 5 stars!
This simple action help the growth of this blog and make me very happy 🙂
PEPERONATA RECIPE authentic Italian pan fried bell peppers
PRINTABLE VERSION
- 1 (500 g) big eggplant
- 3 (500 g) bell peppers, mixed color
- 18 oz (500 g) ripe tomatoes
- 2 (500 g) zucchini
- 1 (500 g) big onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 sprigs thymus
- 2 sprigs marjoram
- 1 bay leaf
- 10 leaves basil
- 3 cups extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp rock salt
- to taste table salt (optional)
- RATATOUILLE RECIPE
Rinse the eggplant, then reduce it into cubes 1 inch per side. Now, pour the eggplant dices in a colander and stir along with 2 tbsp of rock salt. Place the colander a couple of hours over a bowl and let the bitter juice fall down. Gently, press down and stir the eggplant occasionally to speed up the process. Do not use table or kosher salt; otherwise, the eggplant will be too salty. After that, discard the dark juice, then rinse the eggplant discarding all the salt, and dry them with a clean cloth. - STIR-FRIED VEGETABLES
Meanwhile, eggplant is cleaning out, peel and reduce the onion into flakes as big as eggplants cubes. Pour the onions into a thick-bottomed heavy pot, along with a splash of oil, a pinch of salt, and 2 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic. Cook over low heat until the onion starts to caramelize.
Waiting for the onions be ready, rinse and reduce the zucchini into dices half size the eggplant cubes. Now, cut the bell peppers in half, then discard the stems, seeds, and white parts. Dice at the same size of the zucchini.
Stir-fry the bell peppers in 1 tbsp of oil over high heat, until they start to brown. Pour the peppers aside into a dish, then cook the zucchini in the same way.
Now, pour 1 cup of extra-virgin olive oil into a small pot. When the oil reach 320° F (160° C), deep fry the eggplants a little at a time, until golden brown, then let them dry over paper towels. - SLOW COOKED RATATOUILLE
Cut the tomatoes into quarts, then discard the seeds and dice at the same size of bell peppers. Now, mince all the herbs except 5 basil leaves. When the onion starts to caramelize, pour the minced herbs and the vegetables into the pot. Cook slowly 30 to 60 minutes until the vegetables are well done but still in shape, stirring occasionally. Eventually, garnish with sliced basil leaves and serve, hot, warm, or at room temperature. - SERVING RATATOUILLE
French Ratatouille is great served as appetizer or side dish, along with boiled rice or potatoes, toasted bread, and grilled meats. I love it also tossed with pasta or to stuff quiche and calzone, delicious!
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Me again… what does it mean to cut the tomatoes into quarts? Quarter the tomatoes as in cut them into 4 pieces or put the tomatoes into a quart jar and cut them in the jar? Thanks!
Hi again Maggie!
Just cut your tomatoes into 4 pieces, then discard the seeds and reduce into dices. Take a look at the picture of tomatoes to have an idea of what I mean 🙂
Happy cooking,
Filippo
Can you can this like the roasted cherry tomatoes?
Hi Maggie,
Unfortunately, canning Ratatouille could be unsafe; this is because these vegetables beside the tomatoes do not have the right PH, and they are not previously treated with vinegar.
Elaborate and prefect Thanks
Thanks 🙂
Can you replace zucchini with a cucmber, we do not have that vegetable here. love from the Philippines
hi Josh,
Personally, I’m not sure cucumber is the best substitute of zucchini: Just use the other vegetables, it will be tasty even without zucchini.
Happy cooking 🙂
F.