A dish of French, or rather Provencal cuisine - ratatouille, the recipe of which is very simple and includes only a few ingredients available to chefs - has become very popular among gourmets around the world. The name of the dish comes from two French words - "rata", which means "food", "touiller" - "mix".
The rise of ratatouille in French cuisine is a fairly straightforward story. This treat was prepared by poor peasants in season when vegetables were ripe and there were plenty of them. The main ingredients of ratatouille were tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, garlic and onions. Nowadays, there are many interpretations of the classic Provencal dish ratatouille, the recipe of which includes eggplant, pumpkin, aromatic herbs and olive oil. It is served with French cheese and red wine, which add a special charm and zest to the meal.
Provencal Ratatouille
This is a classic ratatouille recipe that includes the following ingredients:
- tomatoes - 4 pcs.;
- zucchini - 4 pcs.;
- eggplant - 2-3 pcs.;
- red bell pepper - 1 pc.;
- yellow bell pepper - 1 pc.;
- onions - 1 pc.;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- dried provencal herbs - 1 teaspoon;
- olive oil - 2 tablespoons;
- salt.
Peel the eggplants, cut into strips and place in salted water for half an hour. This will remove the bitterness from the eggplant. After that, rinse the eggplant slices under running cool water, squeeze and cut into large cubes.
Peel the peppers. This will be much easier if you first bake the peppers in the oven. Preheat it to 200 degrees. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and place in the oven for a few minutes. When the peppers begin to burn slightly, remove them from the oven and place them in a plastic bag. After 5 minutes, remove the vegetables from the bag, peel and remove the seeds. Cut the pulp into strips or pieces.
Peel the tomatoes off as well. This is much easier to do if you pour boiling water over them. Make a crosswise incision near the tail, then dip the tomatoes in boiling water for literally 1-2 minutes, remove and immediately put them in cold water. Peel and cut the tomatoes into slices.
Peel the zucchini and cut into cubes of the same size as the eggplants and peppers. Peel the onion and garlic. Cut the onion into slices and the garlic into thin slices.
Pour olive oil into a skillet and fry all vegetables (except garlic) separately. Put the fried ingredients in a preheated saucepan, stir, season with spices (dried Provencal herbs are best for making ratatouille, but you can also add fresh herbs: basil, marjoram, parsley, oregano, etc.). Add the garlic and salt the vegetable mixture. Stir again, cover the saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat.
The classic ratatouille can be served hot, but it tastes much better if left to stand for a couple of hours.
Ratatouille in the oven
Traditionally, ratatouille is cooked on the stove or in the oven. However, modern chefs have come up with another way to prepare ratatouille - in the oven. This dish is not only tasty, but also very beautiful, so the ratatouille recipe in the oven has become one of the most popular not only in home, but also in restaurant cuisine. To cook ratatouille in the oven, you will need:
- tomatoes - 6 pcs.;
- zucchini - 6 pcs.;
- eggplant - 2-3 pcs.;
- bell pepper - 2 pcs.;
- onions - 1 pc.;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- dried provencal herbs - 1 teaspoon;
- olive oil - 2 tablespoons;
- salt.
To prepare a dish according to this recipe, you first need to make a spicy tomato sauce. Peel the onion and chop it into small pieces. Salt the onions in a little olive oil. Peel 2 tomatoes and peppers from the skin and seeds. Cut the pepper into small cubes, rub the tomatoes with a blender into a homogeneous mass. Add small pieces of pepper and tomato paste to the fried onion. Simmer the sauce until thickened.
While the sauce is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Cut eggplants, zucchini and tomatoes into slices about 1 cm thick. Peel the garlic, finely chop or pass through a press. Combine olive oil, minced garlic, and provencal herbs.
Pour half of the sauce into a baking dish. Lay the slices of vegetables tightly vertically and alternating. Pour the olive oil and spice marinade over the vegetables. Top with the remaining tomato sauce. Cover the mold with foil and place in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. Decorate the finished dish with basil leaves.
Oven-baked ratatouille is a wonderful side dish for lamb, beef and French cheese. Serve with a hot baguette or freshly baked bread.
Ratatouille with pumpkin and oregano
The pumpkin gives the ratata a special aroma and delicate taste. To prepare a dish according to this recipe, take:
- 1 head of onion;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil;
- 1-2 sprigs of oregano or 1 teaspoon dried seasoning
- 0.5 kg pumpkin;
- 0.5 kg of zucchini;
- 4 tomatoes;
- salt.
Peel and finely chop onions and garlic. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and save onions in it, add garlic and oregano. Mix the mixture and fry everything together for about 10 minutes.
Peel the tomatoes and pumpkin and cut into large cubes. Place vegetables in a bowl with sautéed onions and seasonings. Reduce the heat, stir the ingredients, cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Peel and dice the zucchini. Add chunks to tomatoes and pumpkin. Salt the mass and season with spices to your liking. Cook everything together for another half hour.
Provencal ratatouille with cheese
The main ingredients of this dish are eggplants, tomatoes and hard cheese. All you need is:
- 6 medium-sized eggplants;
- 6 large tomatoes;
- 100 g of hard cheese;
- 1 medium onion;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 2 tablespoons of butter;
- 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil;
- a few sprigs of parsley;
- a few leaves of thyme;
- 1 bay leaf;
- salt and black pepper to taste.
Prepare the eggplants, they need to be dipped in salted water for 30 minutes to remove the bitterness. Then rinse them in cold water and cut into slices.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and fry the eggplant slices on both sides. Transfer the eggplants to a napkin to drain off excess fat. Season with salt and black pepper.
Peel and chop the onion, fry it in the oil in which the eggplants were cooked. Remove the skin from the tomatoes, cut them into small cubes and send them to the pan with onions. Peel the garlic, pass through a press and put in the onion-tomato mass. Mix everything, add chopped parsley, thyme leaves, bay leaf. Salt everything, season with pepper, stir again, cover the pan with a lid and simmer the vegetables for 10 minutes. Then reduce the heat, put the eggplants in the tomato sauce and simmer for another 10 minutes under the lid closed.
Prepare a baking dish. Lubricate its bottom and sides with butter. Put the stewed eggplant in it and cover them with the sauce in which they were stewed. Grate the cheese on a coarse grater and sprinkle with ratatouille. Cut the remaining butter into pieces and place on top of the cheese. Send the vegetable and cheese pan to the preheated oven and bake until the cheese is golden brown. This will take about 15-20 minutes.
Ratatouille in a slow cooker
It is very convenient to cook ratatouille in a slow cooker, since the hostess does not need to be constantly at the stove. For cooking you will need:
- 1 medium zucchini;
- 4 tomatoes;
- 2 eggplants;
- 2 bell peppers;
- 1 head of onion;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- salt;
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of dried Provencal herbs.
Wash and peel all vegetables. Chop one tomato, onion and pepper into small pieces, and chop the eggplant, courgette and the remaining three tomatoes into slices about 1 cm thick each. Pass the garlic through a press.
Pour olive oil into a multicooker bowl and add slices of onions, peppers and chopped tomatoes. Set the Bake setting and cook the vegetables for 20 minutes. After the signal, open the lid of the multicooker and rub the resulting mass into a homogeneous sauce. Put half of the sauce in a separate bowl (season the finished dish with it).
Put slices of vegetables in a multicooker bowl with sauce, alternating them. Season vegetables with dried herbs and season with salt. Place the lid on the pans and cook the dish on the "Sauté" mode for 40 minutes.
