Ratatouille is extremely versatile and can be used in many ways. It is a delicious one-pot vegetable accompaniment to any meat, fish, or chicken, or it can be used as a pasta sauce or as a vegetarian meal with the addition of kidney beans or chickpeas. It will freeze for up to three months, so it makes a good stand-by base for a meal.
PREPARATION |
20 MINUTES |
COOKING |
30 MINUTES |
SERVES |
6 |
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 eggplant, diced
5 ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped
2 tablespoons shredded fresh basil leaves plus whole leaves for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté 7 minutes, or until soft and golden. Add garlic and cook an additional minute.
Add bell pepper and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add zucchini and eggplant and stir until well combined.
Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and partially cover with a lid. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Stir in shredded basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or warm, garnished with extra basil leaves.
TIP
If your tomatoes aren’t super ripe, you can enrich the dish by adding 1 tablespoon tomato paste, or replace the tomatoes with an 800-g (28-oz) can chopped tomatoes. When seasoning tomato-based dishes, a good pinch of sugar often rounds out the flavor.
VARIATION
To make a vegetarian meal, add a 400-g (14-oz) can chickpeas or red kidney beans, rinsed and drained, toward the end of cooking. Stir and heat through, then serve with crusty bread.
EACH SERVING PROVIDES
94 calories, 3 g protein, 7 g fat (<1 g saturated fat), 6 g carbohydrate (6 g sugars), 4 g fiber, 114 mg sodium