Discover how to make French Ratatouille at home, all by yourself. Just with less than a dozen of fresh ingredients. Leave your family and friends speechless. Try it today.
This dish is beyond doubt among my favorites.
The perfect summer dish to make with seasonal ingredients that your family will love.
My Mum kindly shared the recipe. But, I am sure you’ll find out that there are a few other ways to make the French Ratatouille. And this one is the traditional south of France.
Origins of the French Ratatouille recipe
If you really are curious about knowing where it come from, I will tell you just in two words – Occitan people, in Provence. They used to name it “Ratatolha” and linked the verbe touiller – meaning stiring it.
Here’s an example: “tas touiller la ratatolha”? This is a very specific French regional terminology.
Which later on become very famous (apart France) thanks to the film that we all know, called “Ratatouille“.
Citation: Ratatouille. (2023, June 13). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatouille
I rather share the traditional way of doing it. It is very simple, full of flavours and you will soon discover how good this recipe is.
Read on to discover how easy-to-follow this mouth-watering recipe is. You need to buy super healthy ingredients as advertised below.
Preferably use ripe veggies, if you don’t like use ferm vegetables.
This is the perfect meal for novice cooks. It packs in loads of flavors and nutrients too.
Traditional French Ratatouille recipe – the ingredients
- 2 eggplants (aubergine)
- 2 bell peppers
- 4 zucchini (courgette)
- 6 tomatoes
- 2 onions
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 1/2 bay leaf
- 1 large pinch of pepper
- 1 Tbsp of thyme (large)
- 1 tablespoon of tomato puree (optional)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
The ingredients above serve 5-6 people. Let’s jump right in.
Preparation
Now, it’s time to wash and peel the peppers and the tomatoes (if you’re brave enough), then dice them.
Otherwise, if you prefre you can buy tomatoes and peppers without skin – often in a jar.
Peel the onion and garlic cloves and dice. Clean the zucchinis and eggplants and again, cut into coarse pieces (without peeling).
How to go about cooking it?
Start by heating the 3 spoons of olive oil in a casserole (cast-iron preferable). You can also cook it with your Crockpot (see below) if you have one.
I highly recommend to get one to save energy and time.
When hot add the chopped onions, garlic and fry gentile until soft. Next add the diced eggplant, give it a good stir and let it sauté for 3 minutes over medium high heat.
After that throw the peppers in and cook for 2 minutes. Followed by the zucchinis, tomatoes, little bit of tomato paste, thyme and bay leaf, and a good zest of salt and pepper.
Stir to combine the mix, then turn the heat up to bring the mixture to a gentle boil the cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
After that, uncover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat. If you like your veggies very soft cook for a further 8-10 minutes.
Like any good cook, before serving give it a taste, as this is the best way to get the palate right. 😉
How to serve it?
This is a dish that goes with almost any other type of food – you can serve on its own with bread and wine or with rice, mash or chicken, etc.
Ahh, do remember to buy a decent good quality wine, red with deep flavours to accompany your meal.
Sprinkle with a handful of grated Parmesan cheese (Yummy).
Hint: In case you have some leftovers, reheat and crack an egg or two, and mix it up. Delicious.
Cooking with a *Crockpot – slow cooker
I recommend you cooking the ratatouille recipe in your Crockpot. Why? Well, the assembling is easy, you just have to set the timer for 2 1/2 to 3 hour rustle up.
If you have time to spare, you can caramalise the garlic and oignons before you put together.
The longer you cook it, the softer and tender it will be. We are different, so I recommend that you try your own way.
Example: If you are both working all day, then the Crockpot will the ideal appliance for this dish. You just have to assemble the ingredients and prep it in the morning before you go to work.
Don’t forget to set the timer to 3-4 hours on a very low heat and start button. Cover with kitchen cloth and you are on your way.
After work, you can reheat it until hot, not boiling. Before serving, grate some parmesan and add a drizzle of olive oil.
We would love to read some of your comments below after you tried this amazing dish. 🙂
Bon appetit!