This dish takes about an hour to bake in the oven, but only 10 minutes to prepare! The trick is to slice the courgettes very thinly so they absorb all the flavours from the sauce. The big advantage of this is that it is a one-dish bake! I often add a little bit of chilli to give it a kick, but that is entirely personal.
Ingredients:
2 large courgettes, very thinly sliced
1 large aubergine, in 5mm thick slices, and halved
2 red peppers, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 heaped teaspoons of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
25 g of fresh basil, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 red chilli chopped finely (optional)
2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
75g fresh white breadcrumbs
30g parmesan/’vegan parmesan’ grated
Serves 4 – suggest you serve it with crusty bread to sop up the juices.
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180C fan/200C/ Gas Mark 6
Mix the vegetables, chilli (optional), garlic, oil, salt, pepper and basil in a medium sized roasting tin or lasagne dish, then top with the tinned tomatoes and mix in the balsamic vinegar if using.
Smooth the tomatoes over the vegetables, then transfer to the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Don’t worry if there is still a lot of liquid – this will get absorbed by the end of the cooking time.
Remove the tin from the oven and increase the heat to 200C Fan/220C/Gas Mark 7. Stir the vegetables through, and then top with the breadcrumbs and parmesan. Put it back in the oven for a further 30 minutes.
Leave the ratatouille to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Inspired by: The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer