Ratatouille is a famous French vegetable dish with Provencal herbs, olive oil and juicy tomato sauce. The recipe of the dish allows you to deviate from the classic version and combine various seasonings, sauces, as well as add cheeses and even minced meat. The products are cooked in tomato sauce, due to which they soften, soaked in juice and the aroma of Provencal herbs.
French eggplant ratatouille with zucchini: a classic recipe
Provencal herbs are an integral part of any classic ratatouille, it is thanks to them that the taste of vegetables becomes so original and rich.
You will need:
- 700 g eggplant;
- 700 g zucchini;
- 200 g bell pepper;
- 1 kg of tomatoes;
- 400 g onions;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- 1 cm hot red pepper;
- 1/3 teaspoon of Provencal herbs;
- 2-3 tbsp Sahara;
- 2-3 sprigs of basil;
- thyme and parsley;
- olive oil;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Step by step cooking process
Rinse the eggplants, remove the tails, cut into rings of about 3 mm. If the skin is very tough, remove it. Place in a deep bowl, cover with salt and stir. Juice will stand out, with which the bitterness will go away, and the vegetables themselves will become softer and more pleasant to the taste.
Peel and chop the onion, then simmer in a saucepan or skillet in a little olive oil. The fire should be minimal for the onion to become transparent. Prepare the sauce.
Make cuts on 1 tomato and pour over with boiling water, stand for 5-10 minutes, remove and peel off the skin. Chop the tomato pulp and put on the onion, mix everything. Peel the bell pepper from seeds, rinse and cut into small cubes, add to the vegetables for the sauce.
Season with salt and pepper, add hot pepper. Stir and simmer over low heat, covered, until vegetables are soft. Chop fresh herbs: basil, parsley and thyme.
Puree the mixture in the saucepan with a blender. The finished ratatouille is obtained with sourness, sugar will help to remove it, which can be added to the sauce to taste.
Remove sauce from heat, add herbs and stir thoroughly. Taste and add more sugar if needed. The sauce should turn out a little sweeter, since there will be more tomatoes in the dish, the acidity of which should also be reduced.
Put about half of the finished sauce in a baking dish. Drain the juice from the eggplants, rinse well and squeeze them out. Also slice the zucchini thinly, you can with the rind if it is not tough.
Cut the tomatoes into thin rings. Place the sliced vegetable rings one at a time on the vegetable pillow. Sprinkle with olive oil on top, add salt and pepper. Cover with foil or a lid. Vegetables should simmer in the oven in their own juice. Bake the dish in an oven preheated to 180 ° C for 1.5 hours.
Then remove the foil, add garlic to the second part of the sauce and stir. Brush with ratatouille sauce. Place back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes uncovered.
Eggplant ratatouille with cheese at home
You will need:
- eggplant - 1 pc.,
- tomatoes - 8 pcs.,
- zucchini - 1 pc.,
- hard cheese - 100 g,
- bell pepper - 1 pc.,
- sugar - 1/2 tablespoon,
- garlic - 2 cloves,
- vegetable oil - 30 ml,
- onion - 1 pc.,
- salt, ground black pepper - to taste.
Step-by-step cooking process
Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, put the chopped onion there, sauté for 3 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the base for the sauce - wash and peel the peppers, tomatoes and garlic. Chop vegetables at random, transfer to blender bowl. Chop vegetables on high power until smooth.
Transfer the tomato-pepper mixture to the pan with the onion, simmer for 5-7 minutes, add sugar, salt and ground black pepper, stir. Remove sample, add hot pepper or chili sauce if desired.
Cut the eggplants, zucchini and tomatoes into slices. Pour the tomato sauce into a greased ovenproof dish. Lay vegetables on top of it, alternating them among themselves - zucchini, eggplant, tomato, etc. Sprinkle vegetables with a pinch of salt and pepper, top with grated cheese. Bake the dish at 180 ° C for 25 minutes and serve the ratatouille to the table.
Eggplant ratatouille with Adyghe cheese in vegetable filling
You will need:
- eggplant - 2 pcs.;
- zucchini - 2 pcs.;
- bell pepper - 1 pc.;
- tomatoes - 2 pcs.;
- garlic - 2-3 cloves;
- Adyghe cheese - 150 g;
- vegetable oil - 50 ml;
- onions - 1 pc.;
- salt and provencal herbs to taste.
Cooking process in stages
Use fresh, seasonal, flavorful vegetables for your meal. Peel and chop 1 tomato, bell pepper and onion so that it is convenient to chop them with a blender. Punch vegetables, add 1 teaspoon of Provencal herbs, a pinch of salt, vegetable oil to the mixture.
Cut the eggplant and zucchini into 1 cm circles. Salt the eggplants and leave to let the juice start. Chop the Adyghe cheese and tomatoes into strips. Pour the prepared tomato sauce into a baking dish.
Put in it alternately vegetables and cheese, salt everything, pour with vegetable oil. Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 35-40 minutes at 180 ° C.
After the vegetables are tender enough, remove the foil and leave in the oven for another 20 minutes. Serve ready-made ratatouille with tortillas or low-calorie cereal crisps.
Eggplant ratatouille with potatoes in the oven: a simple and quick recipe
Ratatouille with potatoes is considered the most popular option for preparing a classic French dish. The more components there are in the composition, the more interesting the ratatouille will turn out in the end. Its zest will be a tart thick sauce with herbs, in which vegetables will be baked according to this recipe.
You will need:
- eggplant - 1 pc.;
- zucchini - 1 pc.;
- tomatoes - 2 pcs.;
- potatoes - 2 pcs.;
- hard cheese - 100 g;
- tomato sauce - 200 g;
- olive oil - 5-6 tablespoons;
- salt, Provencal herbs and ground black pepper - to taste.
Cooking process step by step
Rinse the tomatoes and cut into thin rings. Cut the eggplant and zucchini in the same way. Peel the potatoes and cut into thin rings in the same way. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste, add aromatic dried Provencal herbs if desired.
Pour the sauce into a baking tray. Put each ring of vegetables in a mold one at a time, alternate between eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes and potatoes. Pour the remaining olive oil over the stacked vegetables, season with salt, pepper, and sprinkle with the rest of the seasoning.
Preheat the oven to 160 ° C and put a dish with vegetables in it, bake the dish for 40 minutes until cooked. The vegetables will soften without losing their shape. Put portions of the finished ratatouille with potatoes on a plate and pour over the sauce from the mold, sprinkle with grated cheese on top and serve.
Eggplant ratatouille with minced meat
You will need:
- pork 300 g;
- chicken breast 200 g;
- onion 2 pcs.;
- eggplant 1 pc.;
- zucchini 1 pc.;
- champignons 200 g;
- bulgarian pepper 2 pcs.;
- garlic 2 tooth.;
- carrots 1 pc.;
- green peas 50 g;
- vegetable oil;
- water 70 ml;
- sugar 1 tsp;
- tomato puree 300 g;
- fresh cilantro and Italian herbs to taste;
- salt and pepper to taste.
Prepare minced meat from pork, chicken and onions, add salt and spices to it. Rinse vegetables, peel and cut into thin slices. Cut the mushrooms into slices. Prepare the fill. Salt chopped carrots and onions until soft. Add mashed tomatoes, water, some chopped bell pepper, sugar, salt and spices. Let it simmer for 2 minutes and add chopped garlic. Turn off.
Place most of the fill on the bottom of the mold. Stack the vegetables. Put the minced meat in the form of a cutlet on the eggplant. Then zucchini, champignon, bell pepper, etc. Salt. Add some young green pea pods. Put the rest of the filling, sprinkle with spices. Bake at 180 ° C until tender for half an hour.
