Easy Ratatouille Recipe | Healthy, Budget-Friendly - Elavegan (2024)

FAQs

What's the secret of a good ratatouille? ›

Cooking each vegetable separately before combining them in ratatouille ensures that each component cooks to the right texture and retains its distinct flavor. Different vegetables have varying cooking times; for instance, eggplants and peppers take longer to become tender compared to tomatoes and zucchini.

I substituted portabella mushrooms for eggplant, which was not only delicious, but also shaved about 30 minutes off the cooking time. I substituted jalapenos for bell pepper just for fun. At the end, I tried something a friend from Toulouse taught me: add eggs at the end and poach them lightly in the ratatouille.

If you want to make ratatouille, all you need is one eggplant, one zucchini, two tomatoes, and one onion. If you thought it couldn't get any better, it should cost you less than $5 for all your ingredients.

Ratatouille takes some time to make, and tastes better the next day, so plan ahead. The upside is that it's a perfect make-ahead dish for a party.

Fresh herbs: Thyme and basil add a fresh quality, lightening the velvety stewed vegetables. Olive oil: Use a nice extra virgin olive oil with some personality, like our slightly peppery Spanish Hojiblanca. Acidity: Red wine and sherry vinegar add a depth of flavor, balancing the sweetness of the cooked vegetables.

"When you lay them on the tray to roast, make sure they're in a single layer and give them enough room to roast properly. Eggplant is about 80 to 90 percent water, so when you put them in the oven they need space to evaporate all that water and caramelize properly," says Covarrubias.

Not necessarily; it depends on what you're looking for in the finished dish. Though salting works when you want the eggplant to be creamy and tender — such as with parmigiana — in those cases where you want the eggplant to retain its shape and have a slightly firmer texture — such as ratatouille — you can skip it.

The word ratatouille derives from the Occitan ratatolha and is related to the French ratouiller and tatouiller, expressive forms of the verb touiller, meaning "to stir up". From the late 18th century, in French, it merely indicated a coarse stew.

A classic ratatouille includes eggplant (aubergines), zucchini (courgettes), bell peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil and herbs. Its name is a combination of the French word “rata” meaning a stew with whole pieces and the verb “touiller” which means to stir, toss, or mix.

How to cut onions for ratatouille? ›

Every rule has exceptions: the onion must be cut into slices, in this way it will be recognizable in the dish and it will not be lost in the rest of the ingredients; instead, the tomatoes must be cut in half and, if they are very small, they must be cooked after having pricked them with a toothpick.

Serve Ratatouille as a Side Dish to Meats

Ratatouille goes well with all kinds of grilled meats—I love it with flank steak, lamb, and veal, especially. A gourmet burger, served open face. Yes. A good steaky fish.

Enjoy ratatouille is by serving it with crusty bread, cheesy garlic bread or as a topping for bruschetta. This allows the flavors of the ratatouille to shine through the bread. Bread is a perfect compliment to soak up all the delicious sauce when made as a chunky stew.

Serve your ratatouille with creamy polenta and roasted herb chicken for a hearty meal. If you want a quick meal, pick up a rotisserie chicken at the supermarket.

Keep on adding juices to the pan as they run out of the vegetables into the bowl. Combine: When all the juices have been reduced, return vegetables to the heavy pan. At this point the ratatouille should be moist and shiny, with very little liquid.

Anyone can cook. This one is seriously emphasized in this movie by not only Chef Gusteau, but by the theme of the movie. And it's so true, if you want to cook, you can. If the rat in this movie can put that much precision into Ratatouille, you can throw together a new recipe.

It's a stew of zucchini, peppers, tomatoes and eggplant, with herbs and spices and some onions and garlic usually thrown in for good measure.

NARRATOR: Although each of the world's countries would like to dispute this fact, we French know the truth; the best food in the World is made in France.