You can serve ratatouille as a main dish, or as a side. It’s also great at room temperature served as antipasti, or top it with a grilled egg over toast for breakfast. This relatively inexpensive dish really goes a long way, and it only improves in flavour the next day (and the next).
Main INGREDIENTS
- Vegetables
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
FOR THE SAUCE
- 45 ml olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 x 400 g cans whole tomatoes, pureed in a blender
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt & pepper, to season
FOR THE RATATOUILLE
- 1 large aubergine, sliced thinly into rounds of about 3 mm thick
- 6-8 ripe tomatoes, sliced thinly into rounds of about 3 mm thick
- Olive oil
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 3 sprigs thyme, leaves only
- Salt & pepper, to season
- A handful fresh basil leaves, for serving
- Grated parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
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Method
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1Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C Fan, Gas Mark 4.
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2In a pan on a medium heat, begin by adding the oil and garlic, frying, and stirring for about a minute.
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3Add the pureed tomatoes, thyme, sugar, paprika and season generously with salt & pepper. Bring to a simmer, and then cook uncovered over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a Le Creuset 30cm Signature Buffet Casserole for assembling the ratatouille.
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4Heat the olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. Add several slices of aubergine and cook, turning once, until they are lightly browned on both sides and cooked through, for about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters!
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5Transfer the cooked slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil to the pan, heat, and add more aubergine until all the slices are cooked.
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6Arrange the sliced aubergines and tomatoes in a circular row (or just in rows) on top of the sauce, making sure the tomatoes peep out behind the larger slices of aubergine – use two slices of tomato to match the width of the aubergines slices if necessary. Continue until the full surface of the dish is covered, then drizzle all over with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika and thyme.
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7Season generously with salt & pepper, then bake for 1.5 – 2 hours until very soft and roasted on top. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 15 minutes before serving (if you have the patience).
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8Top with basil leaves and parmesan cheese to serve.
