The Easiest Summer Vegetable Ratatouille Recipe

I have a deep love affair with French cooking, and the movie Ratatouille.  As a child, I saw so much of myself in Remy the Rat: all I ever wanted was to live in New York City and cook all the time.  And now, ten years after the movie's release, I can honestly say that I'm living that life.  Despite this passion for French cuisine and a fictional street rat, I have never actually made ratatouille.

What is Ratatouille...

Ratatouille is a French Provençal dish composed of vegetables stewed in some kind of tomato sauce.  It seems relatively simple, yet there are a lot of components that go into making this dish.

However, after finding myself with more summer vegetables than I knew what to do with (and we already know that I hate wasting summer produce,) I knew that I needed to create my very own ratatouille recipe.

Below you will find a ratatouille packed with flavor and cooked in a heavily-seasoned tomato sauce.  You can add or take away any of the herbs that I used, depending on your preference.  I prepared mine in a Dutch oven, but you can use a nonstick coated pot.

While I would usually crush the tomatoes for the sauce myself, sauce tomatoes are currently out of season, so I used Pastene tomatoes. Note: this is not tomato sauce that you would buy for pasta. It is just the base of a sauce and needs to be cooked!

Scroll on to discover the yummiest and most colorful ratatouille recipe!

Ratatouille

• Prep Time:30 mins
• Cook Time:3 hrs
• Total Time:3 hrs 30 mins
• Servings:6
• Medium

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp high quality olive oil
• Generous pinch salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 3 tbsp roughly chopped basil
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
• 1 very large or 1 1/2 medium chopped shallot
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 to 1 1/2 cup red wine
• 2 large summer squash
• 1 eggplant
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 large red onion
• Extra olive oil and herbs listed above for drizzling

• Step 1

  Combine the olive oil, salt & peppers, herbs, the shallot, and garlic in a Dutch oven or nonstick coated pot.

  

• Step 2

  Slice the squash as thinly and as evenly as you can. Cut the pepper in thin strips, and the onion in thin rings, separating the rings. Set the eggplant aside to be cut when ready to prepare. If you cut the eggplant with the other veggies, it'll soften and brown.

  

• Step 3

  Place the Dutch oven or pot over medium heat until the oil mixture is fragrant and begins to sizzle, and the shallot begins to soften.

  

• Step 4

  Pour the crushed tomatoes over the oil mixture and reduce the heat to medium low. Put a lid over it and allow to reduce and bubble for about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently.

• Step 5

  While your tomato sauce is reducing, evenly slice the eggplant, making sure to cut those extra large slices in half.

• Step 6

  Once the sauce has slightly reduced and thickened, remove from the stove completely and gently pour in the wine. Stir gently and place the lid back on until the sauce stops bubbling.

• Step 7

  If you're using a nonstick pot, pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish. If you have a Dutch oven, keep your sauce in there – you will put the Dutch oven directly in the oven. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Arrange your veggies in any pattern or design as you wish. Or, if you aren't feeling creative, you can just dump all of the vegetables in the sauce. If you arrange the vegetables in a pattern, they shouldn't be submerged in the tomato sauce. This is okay.

  

• Step 8

  Combine 2 to 3 extra tablespoons of olive oil with a pinch of all of the herbs you used in the first step, and drizzle over your vegetables.

  

• Step 9

  Bake at 350ºF for up to two hours, checking on it frequently. Mine was finished after an hour and a half. You will know it's ready when the vegetables are tender to the touch and have wilted slightly. Sprinkle with some kosher salt and serve hot, reheated, or at room temperature!