• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
At Home with Rebecka
  • ABOUT
    • AWARDS and PUBLICATIONS
      • OPERA JOURNEY
    • CONTACT
    • AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • DISCLAIMER
  • RECIPE INDEX
    • RECIPES
    • ORGANIC EDIBLE FLOWER - Resources and Comprehensive List of Edible Flowers
    • HOME CANNING SAFTEY GUIDELINES
    • VIDEOS
menu icon
go to homepage
  • RECIPE INDEX
  • ABOUT
  • MasterChef Generations 🆕
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • RECIPE INDEX
    • ABOUT
    • MasterChef Generations 🆕
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×
    Home » At Home with Rebecka

    Ratatouille: Simple, Elegant and Satisfying

    March 22, 2014 by athomewithrebecka 6 Comments

    Ratatouille is a simple, elegant, and satisfying vegetarian dish. Fresh garden vegetables are the star of this easy dinner recipe!

    This post is being submitted to the Best Home Chef Vegetarian dish challenge. I wrote and posted this recipe when I was still using blogger.com, in 2011. Hope you enjoy this delicious ratatouille recipe.

    My youngest daughter has been pestering me to make Ratatouille ever since the Disney movie opened in theaters.  There is only one minor issue that has kept me from making the dish for almost two years...my family doesn't like vegetables.  There, I said it! 

    I don't want to place blame here, but the source of the distaste for vegetables comes from one particular person...my darling husband! Corn, beans, and potatoes are the breathed of his vegetable pleasures, thus resulting in familial taste choices in his offspring. On the other hand, I delight in all manner of vegetables and cannot fathom the loss of palatable pleasures my family has missed over the years! He is seriously missing out on PICKLED BEETS.

    Finally, after two years of badgering from our youngest child, I decided to make Ratatouille for the first time!  With my husband off in China on a business trip, this was the perfect time to experiment with a dish that consists of only vegetables. 

     
     
    Using the traditional French recipe, I tried keeping to the same fresh flavored ingredients but made a minor adjustment with by adding button mushrooms. 
     
    Recipe:
     
    1 large eggplant sliced ½ inch thick rounds, skin on
    3 small zucchini
    2 medium yellow summer squash
    2 large yellow or orange bell peppers
    2 large clove garlic
    2 medium sweet onions sliced ½ inch thick rounds
    5 vine ripe tomatoes, skinned
    1 14 ounce can chopped tomatoes with juices
    1 pound button mushrooms
    olive oil
    1 tablespoon fresh thyme
    1 bay leaf
    salt and pepper to taste
     
    Method:
     
    Wash and slice vegetables. Peel tomatoes by placing them in boiling water for 10-15 seconds, remove skin and crush tomatoes with spoon or by hand into a medium skillet, set on low heat, add thyme, bay leaf, garlic and salt and pepper and simmer until ready to use
     
    In a large heavy bottom skillet, add two tablespoons olive oil, cook eggplant for 5 minutes, turning occasionally, add olive oil if pan becomes dry, drain cooked eggplant on paper towel, add salt and pepper and set aside
     
     
    Next repeat the same process with zucchini and yellow squash, remove from heat add salt and pepper and drain on paper towel. 

    Cooking the vegetables separately and in order is important when making ratatouille. 

     Using this process, allows each vegetable to keep its own distinct flavor without being compromised by the other vegetables; the result, a perfectly balanced dish. Also, adding salt and pepper to each vegetable after removing the from the skillet will keep the natural juices from escaping and prevent the vegetables from being "boiled" and becoming mushy.
     
    sauteed eggplant and zucchini

    Add two tablespoon vegetable oil to the skillet and cook the peppers for 5 minutes, remove to paper towel and season with salt and pepper.

    sauteed bell peppers

    Add two tablespoons olive oil to skillet and cook onions for 5 minutes, remove to paper towel and salt and pepper to taste.

    sauteed onions

    Add two tablespoons olive oil to skillet and cook mushrooms for 3-5 minutes, remove to paper towel and salt and pepper to taste.

    sauteed mushrooms

    Assemble:

    In a large oiled casserole dish begin layering the vegetables in the same order as they were cooked; eggplant, zucchini, squash, peppers, onions and then mushrooms

    layering vegetables for a ratatouille dish
     
    cooked peppers and zucchini
     
     
    Pour tomato sauce over layered vegetables and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. More salt and pepper can be added by your guests, but I found it wasn't necessary as the flavors were a delicate and delightfully seasoned.
     
    Don't forget the wine! I served a spicy and beautifully structured Zinfandel blend. Ridge 2005 California Sonoma County Three Valleys, Zinfandel. A perfect combination of grapes from multiple vineyards, this was a wonderful pairing for my ratatouille. Priced around $26-$30 dollars per bottle and worth every penny!
     
     
    I also serve garlic crostini to sop up all the juices. 
     
     
    Ratatouille is a simple, elegant, and satisfying vegetarian dish. Fresh garden vegetables are the star of this easy dinner recipe!
     
    Not having any previous experience with eating Ratatouille, I was blown away by the complex flavors of this dish!  Each individual vegetable retaining its own distinct flavor but perfectly combined to create a mouth-watering, soul satisfying meal.  My family, minus the vegetable-challenged man of the house, loved it!!
     
    Ratatouille is a simple, elegant, and satisfying vegetarian dish. Fresh garden vegetables are the star of this easy dinner recipe!
    « Beef Teriyaki Tri-Tip Roast Grilled to Perfection
    Strawberry Roll-Up Pancakes »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating




      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    1. khushi

      June 05, 2011 at 11:46 am

      I must say you are a wonderful cook at the same time a perfect photographer.....your pics are so colorful...I loved the recipe a lot 🙂

      Reply
    2. Biren

      May 31, 2011 at 7:49 pm

      I like how you layered all those wonderful vegetables. Zinfandel is one of my favorite wines and I can imagine how well it must go with the ratatouille.

      Reply
    3. Rebecka

      May 26, 2011 at 7:19 am

      Smash Bravo, Thanks for visiting. If you like zucchini I know you'll enjoy this dish! This was my first stab at this recipe and it was a great success

      Hi Joy, it took me two years to get around to making ratatouille and I probably wouldn't have made it at all if it weren't for my daughters constant pleading. I know I'll make it again when my husband is out of town (he has vegetable-phobia) it was so satisfying and delicious!

      funkylindsay, happy to see you, thanks for linking up via TGIF and following

      Reply
    4. funkylindsay.com

      May 25, 2011 at 9:26 am

      looks amazing!

      Thank you for stopping by my blog - I'm your newest follower too!

      Reply
    5. kitchen flavours

      May 23, 2011 at 7:30 am

      Looks so delicious! Hahaha! This sounds familiar, my daughter asked me exactly that, when we went for the movie! And am ashamed to say I have yet to make any for her. Rebecka, I'm being reminded again by this yummy looking Ratatouille of yours! Have a lovely week!

      Reply
    6. Smash Bravo Team

      May 22, 2011 at 9:40 pm

      OOOOOHHHH that looks yummy. I think I would have broken down and eaten all the Zucchini though, those are my very favorite. The presentation looked amazing and so delicious, I had never even heard of this dish. Thanks for the treat!

      Reply

    Primary Sidebar

    Rebecka Evans HeadShot Knives

    Home with Rebecka.

    Since 2010, this blog has been my cozy corner of the internet. I'm Rebecka, a wife, mother, grandmother, and an award-winning competitive cook.

    Together with my husband, Blake, I'm on a culinary journey of comfort and style here in Denver, Colorado. Our family is a blend of five grown children and eight beautiful grandchildren.

    The joy of creating recipes, competing in cooking challenges, and mastering the art of food photography and styling has always been a labor of love.

    More about me →

    Sandwiches

    • Asada Tortas
      Asada Tortas with Desert Pepper Salsa

    • Quarry Challenge MC14
      The Quarry Team Challenge

    • Breakfast Sandwich
      Breakfast Sandwiches

    • MahiMahi sandwich
      Mahi Mahi Salad Sandwich

    • Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches
      Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches

    • Coffee Bacon BLT with Smokey Pimento Cheese Spread

    See more Sandwiches →

    Trending Cakes

    • Chocolate-Mayonnaise cake
      Chocolate-Mayonnaise Cake

    • Upside-Down Apple Cake
      Upside-Down Apple Coffee Cake

    • Strawberry Creme Crinkle Cake
      Strawberry Crème Custard Crinkle Cake

    • Strawberry Angel Food Cake
      Strawberry Angel Food Cake

    • Lima Bean and Ham Stew Recipe
      Lima Bean & Ham Stew with Sweet Cornbread Cake

    • The "Upside-Down" Filled Jelly Roll Cake
      The "Upside-Down" Pineapple Filled Jelly Roll

    See more Cakes →
    • ABOUT
    • AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
    • AWARDS and PUBLICATIONS
    • CONTACT
      • DISCLAIMER
    • HOME
    • HOME CANNING SAFTEY GUIDELINES
    • OPERA JOURNEY
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • RECIPE INDEX
    • VIDEOS
    • ORGANIC EDIBLE FLOWER - Resources and Comprehensive List of Edible Flowers

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Menu

    • Contact
    • About
    • Home

    Copyright © 2024 At Home with Rebecka