Back to Basics: Ratatouille

Back to Basics: Ratatouille

Oh I forgot how delicious something so simple can be! 😀 and I’ve tried to make this as simple as possible with no faffing, fancy ingredients or complicated instructions! Okay, so this isn’t the ‘proper’ way to make ratatouille… but then when did I make anything that was! 😛

I used my crumble recipe last night for rhubarb fresh from the allotment (and almost had cold crumble for breakfast)… which made me remember I hadn’t added to the Back to Basics series for a while! So now the series has ratatouille as well as pancakes, green smoothies, Buddha bowls, roasted vegetables and a few other easy to follow, easy to make recipes! 😀

Ratatouille is a gorgeous melange of tomatoes, onions, garlic, aubergine and courgettes, sometimes with peppers (peppers deserve their own dish such as Hungarian Lecso) and simple fresh herbs such as basil. In the UK it’s courgette season now so this is something which can easily be whipped up! As I said, I’ve kept it as simple and fresh as possible and the flavours are just so good! 😀

Back to Basics Ratatouille (Vegan & Free-From)

  • Servings: 3-4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Gather

  • Oil (I used coconut oil)
  • 3 small-medium onions
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 large aubergine chopped
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 medium courgettes chopped
  • 1 x 400ml jar/carton passata
  • 400ml cold water (in your passata container)
  • Ground black pepper
  • *optional fresh/dry herb of choice – basil, oregano, mixed

Prepare

  1. Heat (or melt) the oil in a large (non-stick) pan. Chop each onion in half, then each piece into quarters. Add to the oil and gently break up with your spatula (you could use your hands to do this before you start cooking but you won’t thank me for smelly hands)! Cook until starting to turn translucent.
  2. Add the garlic, then the aubergine, sprinkle some salt over and cook until the aubergine starts to soften. Add the courgette and continue cooking until everything starts to turn brown.
  3. Pour the passata over and gently stir to combine. Use the passata container to add cold water (& get all the remaining passata out of the container). Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for five minutes. Add black pepper, taste test and add more salt if required.
  4. Add dried herbs if you wish during the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, or scatter over fresh herbs when serving. You may find the taste is so great as it is you don’t want to overpower it!
  5. Enjoy!

Serve & Store

  • This is best served warm (rather than hot).
  • Serve as a main with brown rice or quinoa (or chips)!
  • Use as a side to accompany something you’d usually have red sauce with!
  • Try it with chunks of bread dipped in.
  • Serve it up on toast (hot or cold).
  • Top crackers with houmous then add a dollop of cold ratatouille!
  • Delicious eaten cold with salad.
  • Store refrigerated for up to three days.

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Taking this over to Deborah at the Plant Based Potluck Party and also going to show my face at Angie’s Fiesta Friday co-hosted this week by Petra @ Food Eat Love and Laura @ Feast Wisely

Please come over and see what everyone else is sharing! 🙂 🙂 🙂

10 Comments

  • petra08 11th July 2017 at 00:57

    So classic, so good and bang in season! Delicious! Thank you for bringing this to Fiesta Friday! 🙂

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 11th July 2017 at 09:07

      Thanks Petra. Hope you had fun co-hosting 🙂

      Reply
      • petra08 11th July 2017 at 13:15

        No week is ever the same as Fiesta Friday! Co hosting is so much fun and I love to meet other bloggers and read through their stories and recipes 🙂

        Reply
        • Life Diet Health 11th July 2017 at 13:18

          Yes I know… I co-hosted once and it is great fun 🙂 I just need to make myself more time! 😛

          Reply
          • Angie | Fiesta Friday 14th July 2017 at 11:28

            Yes! Great plan on making more time. Then you can cohost again ?

          • Life Diet Health 17th July 2017 at 09:36

            Angie… I did wonder if you’d see this! 😛 Yes, I will do again soon!!! (my soon probably isn’t the same as your soon though!!! 😛 )

  • Courgette Ideas… | Life Diet Health 2nd August 2017 at 18:08

    […] we panfried a few, made ratatouille, added some to curry then realised we’d eaten them like that enough! So, thinking caps on for […]

    Reply
  • Joëlle 3rd August 2017 at 14:22

    Hi! I find I have a hard time with cooking eggplant / aubergine. How long does it take for it to soften? In order to get around this problem, I usually steam it first, cut up in small cubes.

    Reply
    • Life Diet Health 4th August 2017 at 01:04

      Hi Joëlle ☺ It depends on the age and type of aubergine (eggplant) but if you chop it up then sprinkle it with salt and leave for five minutes it will draw some of the liquid out so it will cook quicker (pat it dry with kitchen roll). It also makes a difference what type of oil you use and how much. In this recipe the aubergine was soft in under 10 minutes – not mushy soft but just right for soaking up the tomato. I’ve got my first ever aubergines growing in the garden so I might try your steaming method to see if it changes the taste much. Thanks for dropping by!

      Reply
  • Easy idea to use up tomatoes ready in 10 minutes ⋆ Life Diet Health 25th August 2022 at 12:01

    […] work well, as do aubergine, onion and mushrooms. However, then you are getting more towards a ratatouille and it will take a bit more time and […]

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