This dish is so amazing it inspired the beloved Disney movie none other than, Ratatouille. There’s no question that when it comes to cooking, the French really know what they’re doing. This beautiful, eye-catching dish is the perfect way to get use out of all your end of summer produce. If you loved this Disney favorite, you will love cooking up this baked ratatouille recipe at home for your friends and family to enjoy. The best part? It tastes even better the second day!
What is Ratatouille?
Ratatouille is a healthy, vegetable stew that originates from the French region of Provence. The ingredients vary from recipe to recipe but mostly consist of eggplant, tomatoes, onions, zucchini, squashes and herbs cooked in olive oil. The dish can be a little time consuming to make, but it is well worth it. It is filled with an abundance of flavor and is extremely healthy! Eat it alone or serve it with your favorite pasta, rice or piece of bread!
Ratatouille Vegetables:
- Egg plant of any kind!
- Fresh Roma Tomatoes
- Yellow Squash, or any other variety of summer squash!
- Zucchini
- Yellow Onion & Garlic to give your ratatouille it’s iconic flavor.
- Fresh Herbs like basil, rosemary, thyme and paprika!
How to Assemble
Spread sauce evenly in the skillet. Using a mandolin, slice vegetables thinly and work your way around the skillet starting from the outside, all the way to the center. After it’s done baking, garnish your colorful dish with some fresh basil and squash rosettes! Use a mandaloin to cut the squash in thin long pieces, roll them up and voila!
This dish requires quite a bit of chopping and prepping, but this baked ratatouille is a showstopper for a cozy dinner party with friends. It puts to use all of our favorite summer vegetables into one savory dish for everyone to enjoy. You can serve this to your guests as a side dish, or even as a topping for some artisan bread.
Baked Ratatouille
This flavorful French dish is a crowd pleasing main to serve at your next dinner party!
- Prep Time30 min
- Cook Time40 min
- Total Time1 hr 10 min
- Yield8
For the burger
- 2 small egg plant
- 5 roma tomatos
- 3 yellow squash
- 2 zucchinis
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt to taste
- Rainbow peppercorns to garnish
- Extra basil for the garnish
Preparing the spices
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prep the veggies. Keep the skin on and slice thinly. Try to keep them a uniform width. Set aside.
For the sauce, dice garlic, onion, and red bell pepper. Add them with olive oil to your cast iron pan on low to medium heat. Cook for about 7-10 minutes until onion and red bell pepper have softened. Add the can of crushed tomatoes and fresh rosemary and thyme, salt, and paprika.
Reduce to simmer for about 20 minutes until the flavors have marinated. Remove from heat, and stir in chopped basil.
Arrange the veggies, alternating colors around in a spiral starting from the outside. Take a yellow squash and use a vegetable peeler to create a long strip. Roll into a rose shape and nestle in the middle of the spiral.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 35-40 minutes. Uncover for the next 20 minutes until veggies have softened. Let cool for ten minutes. Garnish with fresh basil and serve!
