Ratatouille: every vegetable fried separately, combined only at the end
Provençal ratatouille takes longer than an ordinary pot of stewed vegetables, because the aubergine, zucchini and pepper go into the pan separately. Each needs a different time and a different heat; thrown in together they release water and stew in it into a uniform mush. Fried one at a time they keep their shape, their colour and their own flavour, and meet only in the finished tomato base.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Aubergine drawing water 30 min
- Frying in turn 30 min
- Stewing together 20 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSalt the aubergine
Cut the aubergine into 2 cm cubes (don't peel), spread on a sieve or board, sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and leave 30 minutes. Beads of dark liquid will appear on the cut surfaces. Pat the cubes dry with paper towel, pressing.
Ingredients: 500 g aubergine · 400 g zucchini · 2 pcs red peppers · 2 pcs onions · 4 cloves garlic · 600 g tomatoes · 150 ml olive oil · 2 tsp salt · 1 tsp oregano or thyme · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp sugar
TipSalt draws water out by osmosis and partly collapses the flesh cells. Dried aubergine absorbs less oil and browns instead of boiling in its own juice. These 30 minutes decide the texture of the whole dish.
2 cm cubes, a teaspoon of salt, half an hourFry the aubergine
Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Fry the aubergine 8 minutes (if the cubes don't fit in a single layer, in two batches, dividing the oil), stirring every 2 minutes, until the cubes are deep golden and soft inside. Transfer to a plate.
TipAubergine soaks up oil like a sponge for the first 2 minutes, then gives some back as its cells collapse. Don't add more oil part-way, however dry the pan looks — it will be glossy again in a moment.
Deep golden, soft insideFry the zucchini, then the pepper
In the same pan, in 2 tablespoons of oil, fry the zucchini cut into 1 cm half-moons for 5 minutes over high heat, just to colour one side; it should stay firm. Move it to the plate. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil and fry the peppers, cut into strips, for 6 minutes, until soft with charred edges. Move them out too.
TipZucchini is 95 % water and needs 5 minutes; peppers have tough cell walls and need 6 to 8. Together in one pot, one is always raw or the other overcooked. Hence separately.
Each vegetable its own time, its own plateBuild the tomato base
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a wide pot (keep the last spoonful for the end), soften the sliced onions 6 minutes, add the chopped garlic for a minute. Add the tomatoes — scalded, peeled and quartered — or the passata, with the oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes, until the tomatoes collapse and the sauce thickens.
Ingredients: 500 g aubergine · 400 g zucchini · 2 pcs red peppers · 2 pcs onions · 4 cloves garlic · 600 g tomatoes · 150 ml olive oil · 2 tsp salt · 1 tsp oregano or thyme · ½ tsp black pepper · 1 tsp sugar
Onion, garlic, tomatoes into a thick sauceCombine and stew
Add all the fried vegetables to the sauce along with any juices from the plate. Fold together gently, cover and stew over low heat 20 minutes. Don't stir more often than once every 7 or 8 minutes, or the cubes break down.
All together, stirred rarely and gentlySeason and serve
Taste: it should be clearly tomatoey, lightly sweet and well salted. Off the heat, add torn basil and a spoon of raw olive oil. Serve warm with bread and a fried egg, or cold the next day — many people prefer it then, once the flavours have had time to settle together.
Ingredients: 1 bunch fresh basil · 4 pcs bread
Basil and raw olive oil at the end
Before you start
Roasted version
Toss all the diced vegetables with oil and roast on two trays for 30 minutes at 220 °C, then fold into the sauce. Less watching, a similar result, though the flavour is more roasted than fried.
Confit byaldi
The version made popular by the animated film Ratatouille: thin slices of aubergine, zucchini and tomato shingled over the sauce in a dish and baked 90 minutes at 160 °C under paper. It looks beautiful and tastes different — gentler.
The next day
It keeps 4 days in the fridge and is often even better the next day. Serve cold with baguette, warm with grains, or as a pasta sauce with feta.
