Rustic Ratatouille
Rustic, homey ratatouille that is made with layered thinly sliced summer vegetables over a pool of flavorful tomato sauce.
Equipment
- Blender or immersion blender
- 8-inch baking dish
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 red bell pepper chopped
- ½ of a yellow onion chopped
- 14 ounce can tomato puree
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- Salt and pepper to taste
Ratatouille
- 2 zucchini sliced into 1/10 inch rounds
- 1 Japanese eggplant sliced into 1/10 inch rounds
- 2 yellow squash sliced into 1/10 inch rounds
- 4 roma tomatoes sliced into 1/10 inch rounds
- 3 Yukon Gold potatoes optional, sliced into 1/10 inch rounds
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
Instructions
Prepare the sauce
- In a medium pan, over low-medium heat, add the olive oil.
- Once heated, add the onion and bell pepper and cook for about 10 minutes until softened. Then add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add the tomato puree and balsamic vinegar. Stir it, and then add the bundle of thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and then cover the pan. Let the sauce simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes.
- In a blender or large bowl using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until smooth.
- Pour into an 8-inch baking dish. Set aside.
Construct the ratatouille
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- In the baking dish, over the sauce, arrange alternating slices of the vegetables (I did tomato, yellow squash, potato, zucchini, eggplant).
- Drizzle the olive oil on top of the vegetables—season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the fresh thyme on top.
- Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. In the last 20 minutes of cooking, remove the aluminum and allow the dish to bake uncovered.
- Remove from the oven and serve warm.