Ratatouille
Each vegetable cooked on its own terms, then folded together at the end. Cooked all in one pan it becomes a grey stew.
- Prep
- 25m
- Cook
- 50m
- Waiting
- 10m
- Total
- 1h 25m
- Serves
- 6
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 3 tbsp | Cook the pepper and tomato base down until jammy 25m This is the sauce the other vegetables sit in, so it needs to lose its water first. | Fold everything together off the heat and let it sit 10m Folding, not stirring. You want the pieces still recognisable. | |
| 1 | |||
| 2 | |||
| 4 cloves | |||
| 1 tin | |||
| 4 sprigs | |||
| 1 | |||
| 2 | Fry the aubergine in batches until deep brown and collapsing 18m Aubergine drinks oil, then gives it back once the cells break down. Wait for that. | ||
| 5 tbsp | |||
| 1 tsp | |||
| 3 | Fry the courgette hot and fast, browned but still firm 8m | ||
| 2 tbsp | |||
| 2 tsp | |||
| a large handful |
-
Cook the pepper and tomato base down until jammy
25m- olive oil 3 tbsp
- onion 1
- red peppers 2
- garlic 4 cloves
- tinned plum tomatoes 1 tin
- thyme 4 sprigs
- bay leaf 1
This is the sauce the other vegetables sit in, so it needs to lose its water first.
-
Fry the aubergine in batches until deep brown and collapsing
18m- aubergines 2
- olive oil 5 tbsp
- salt 1 tsp
Aubergine drinks oil, then gives it back once the cells break down. Wait for that.
-
Fry the courgette hot and fast, browned but still firm
8m- courgettes 3
- olive oil 2 tbsp
-
Fold everything together off the heat and let it sit
10m- from 1 Cook the pepper and tomato base down until jammy
- from 2 Fry the aubergine in batches until deep brown and collapsing
- from 3 Fry the courgette hot and fast, browned but still firm
- red wine vinegar 2 tsp
- basil a large handful
Folding, not stirring. You want the pieces still recognisable.
Why the vegetables are cooked apart
Aubergine, courgette, peppers and tomato hold wildly different amounts of water and soften at different rates. Put them in one pan and the fast ones release liquid that stops the slow ones from browning, so nothing caramelises and everything ends up the same soft texture. Cooking each in a wide pan means the water evaporates rather than pools, and the pieces brown at around 150°C where the Maillard reaction actually gets going. The final fold is just assembly.
Notes
- It is better on day two. The vinegar and oil migrate through everything overnight.
- Salt the aubergine in the pan, not in a colander beforehand. Modern varieties are not bitter and drawing out water just makes it harder to brown.
- Serve at room temperature with bread, or under a fried egg.