Ratatouille is an easy healthy recipe full of vegetables! Eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, onion, peppers and more come together in this savory dish.
Ratatouille is a French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, originating in Nice, and sometimes referred to as ratatouille niçoise.
If you ask me, it tastes a whole lot like a very chunky marinara sauce. The use of tomatoes in my recipe really gives it that Italian sauce feeling and taste.
You can serve it as a main dish or on the said of some decadent homemade lasagna or with an easy bolognase sauce if you need the meat.
Ingredients needed:
The original ratatouille dish was basically a course stew.
Fast forward to current times and travel around the globe, and you'll find most ratatouille recipes use a base of tomatoes along with garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and fresh herbs.
Of course, you can vary these ingredients to your liking and there are a ton of cooking methods to have them all come together in a delicious harmony.
No matter how you cook it, though, you're going to end up with one tasty and healthy dish.
What to serve with it:
My most favorite thing to serve with ratatouille is polenta. Not the hard kind that comes in a log, but loose polenta that you cook on a stove. My Goat Cheese Polenta is a particular favorite!
When I made this particular ratatouille, I served it up with some of my Homemade Pasta tossed in olive oil with some grated parmesan. Pure heaven!
Ratatouille
Ingredients
VEGGIES
- 1 eggplant (half of the peel removed in vertical stripes)
- 3 roma tomatoes
- 2 medium sized yellow squashes
- 2 medium sized zucchinis
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil (chopped , from 8-10 leaves)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt (to taste)
- ½ teaspoon pepper (to taste)
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
SAUCE
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large red onion (diced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 orange bell pepper (diced)
- 1 yellow bell pepper (diced)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes ((one large can))
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (from 8-10 leaves)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven for 375˚F.
- Slice the eggplant, tomatoes, squash, and zucchini into thin rounds, then set in large bowl. Toss with basil, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Set aside.
- Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in large (12-inch is ideal) oven-safe dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, and bell peppers until soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and red pepper, then add the crushed tomatoes. Add more salt and/or red pepper flakes, if desired. Stir until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Remove from heat, then add the basil. Stir once more, then smooth the surface of the sauce with a spatula.
- Add sliced vegetables to the top of the sauce and spread into a uniform layer. Cover the dutch oven with a lid and bake for 50 minutes. Uncover, then bake for another 20 minutes, until the vegetables are softened.
- Serve hot as a main dish or side. Serve with additional fresh basil as well as grated pecorino romano cheese.
Cheryl
Thank you, thank you. Not only is the dish ridiculously delicious, the whole house smells wonderful.
Fantastic!
Tatiana
I never really knew what ratatouille was, but I love all of these ingredients. I can’t wait to eat this!!!
Veena Azmanov
I love the presentation and look of this dish. Everything in it is so healthy and surely delicious. Have to make some for family.
Natalie
I love ratatouille! Looks so delicious and perfect for the summer - delicious and healthy,
Sues
This is such a gorgeous ratatouille!! And the perfect solution for all those summer veggies in the CSA. I need to make this ASAP!
Cindy Gordon
Oh the vegetables in this recipe! YUMMMO, I am a veggie lover so this is perfect for me!
cheryl
I made half a recipe for me and my husband last night and it was sooooo fabulous, we only have enough leftovers for lunch (for me)! Next time I make it I think I will try putting it over a little pasta because it could conceivably be a thick and chunky spaghetti sauce! We had it with oven roasted chicken parts and it was perfect. Thanks for the recipe!!!