Homemade French ratatouille

Homemade French ratatouille

The French ratatouille is a vegetable stir-fry, typical of Mediterranean cuisine and ideal to accompany any kind of grilled meat or fish. This dish is very healthy because of the vegetables it has, but it also contains a significant amount of olive oil so it is not really “light”. Making a good French ratatouille is not difficult, but my favourite recipe is the most elaborate: I like to cook the vegetables separately so that they maintain their unique taste.

Personally I love it with the crispy parmesan and herbs chicken (see picture below).

 

Tricks:

– Place a sieve over a large bowl to recover the vegetable  cooking oil and use it later in the recipe.

– Cut the vegetables while you cook them so that it goes faster.

 

I like it because:

– The French ratatouille can also be served as a sauce for pasta or rice.

– You can incorporate any type of aromatic herbs for a change.

 


INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE:

  • 1 eggplant
  • 2/3 US cup (150 ml) olive oil to fry the eggplant + 2 tablespoons for the rest of the vegetables
  • 1 red pepper and 1 green pepper
  • 2 courgettes
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Fresh parsley and Provence herbs
  • 1 small cane chopped tomatoes (2 US cups / 400g)

 

 

Homemade French ratatouille recipe

  • Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat while cutting the eggplant into small cubes.
  • Sauté the eggplant cubes in several batches if necessary to brown evenly. Meanwhile cut the peppers into thin slices.
  • Strain the eggplant in a sieve over a large bowl to recover the excess oil.
  • Pour a tablespoon of olive oil in the hot pan, and cook the peppers until they are tender and golden while you cut the courgettes in  ​​½ centimetre slices.
  • Put the peppers in the sieve with the eggplant cubes once they are cooked.
  • Pour another tablespoon of oil in the pan and cook the courgettes in the same way and add them to the sieve. Meanwhile chop the garlic.
  • Pour again the surplus of olive oil from the vegetables in the pan – all of it or less according to your taste – and fry the garlic for 5 minutes over low heat.
  • Add the crushed tomatoes to the pan with the garlic, and simmer 10 minutes.
  • After ten minutes, mix all the vegetables and the herbs together in the pan, and stir well.
  • Cook 5 more minutes and you can serve the ratatouille.

 

Bon appétit!

Homemade French ratatouille
Homemade French ratatouille

 

 

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