Ratatouille is a French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, originating in Nice, and sometimes referred to as ratatouille niçoise. I cannot sum-up in words how much I love ratatouille.

Slicing all the veggies evenly is key to make a good looking ratatouille. This also ensures everything cooks evenly. So, I prefer to use a mandoline slicer to slice the veggies evenly. It saves time too!!

I do follow this once simple thing to ensure the veggies stay beautiful after cooking: layer the sauce at the bottom and nothing on top of veggies but some oil and seasoning.

Bake ratatouille casserole covered with parchment. So veggies cook but not get charred. In other words, don’t lose the colour.

What do you need to make this Ratatouille?

• 2 courgettes
• 1 red or yellow peppers (I used red)
• 3 ripe tomatoes
• 1 x 400 g tin of quality plum tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Some olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• Some thyme, herbes de Provence, salt and pepper

Method

Let’s prepare our ingredients first:

1. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Trim the courgettes, deseed the peppers and slice them.
3. Slice the tomatoes.

Prepare the base for your Ratatouille:

4. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large casserole pan or saucepan over a medium heat.
5. Add the chopped onion and garlic and fry for around 5 minutes, or until golden and softened.
6. Add your plum tomatoes from a tin.
7. Stir in the balsamic and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Simmer over a low heat for 15-20 30 minutes, or until reduced.

Final step:

8. Preheat the oven at 180 degree Celsius.
9. Layer you sauce in a baking try.
10. Layer the sliced veggies on top. I like to make a spiral stack of vegetable slices for presentation. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle salt, thyme, herbes de Provence and black pepper on top.
11. Cover with parchment paper. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until all veggies are tender. You will see tomato sauce bubbling on the sides.

Let it cool for 10 minutes. Serve with a hunk of (wheat and gluten free) bread or steamed rice.

Enjoy !