Ratatouille

Name: Ratatouille
Total time: 80 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 unit eggplant (cut into 1-inch cubes); 2 unit zucchini (halved lengthwise, sliced thick); 1 unit bell pepper, red (cut into wide strips); 1 unit onion (sliced thin); 3 clove garlic (sliced); 3 unit tomato (peeled, seeded, chopped); 5 tbsp olive oil; 1 ½ tsp salt; ½ tsp black pepper (ground); 3 sprig thyme; 1 unit bay leaf; ¼ cup basil (torn)

Vegetables & Salads · European

12 ingredients · 80 minutes · 2 servings

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477kcal8.2g protein35.5g fat39.3g carbs~$3.62/ serving*

Nothing flagged in the ingredient list. The label is still the last word.

Restrictions

Diets

VegetarianVeganPescatarianNo porkNo alcohol

Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.

Ingredients

Servings:

1 unit	eggplant (cut into 1-inch cubes)
2 unit	zucchini (halved lengthwise, sliced thick)
1 unit	bell pepper, red (cut into wide strips)
1 unit	onion (sliced thin)
3 clove	garlic (sliced)
3 unit	tomato (peeled, seeded, chopped)
5 tbsp	olive oil
1 ½ tsp	salt
½ tsp	black pepper (ground)
3 sprig	thyme
1 unit	bay leaf
¼ cup	basil (torn)

Optional

Not counted above. The dish works without them.

1 tsp	red wine vinegar
1 pinch	sugar
2 tbsp	olives (pitted, halved)
1 tsp	capers (rinsed)

Steps

Season30 min
in a colander, room temperature
- eggplant
eggplant cubes + 0.5 tsp of the salt, tossed and left to drain — salt pulls water out of the spongy cells so they collapse before they hit the pan, which means the eggplant browns on the oil it has rather than drinking a quarter-cup of it. Pat dry or the surface water will steam it
Saute10 min
medium-high, single layer, 2 tbsp oil
eggplant, turned only when each face has taken colour, until browned outside and creamy through = set aside. Crowd this and it greys
Saute6 min
medium-high, single layer, 1 tbsp oil
- zucchini
zucchini, cut side down, until spotted brown but still firm at the centre = set aside. Zucchini is mostly water and goes from toothsome to slush in about two minutes; it is pulled out early and never returns to full heat
Saute8 min
medium, 1 tbsp oil
- bell pepper
- onion
bell pepper strips, until the edges blister and the flesh slackens = set aside. Pepper takes longer than zucchini and less time than onion, which is the third reason one pot cannot work
Sweat12 min
low, covered, 1 tbsp oil
- garlic
onion + garlic + a pinch of salt, stirred occasionally, until fully translucent and slumped with no colour at all — sweating without browning keeps the base sweet rather than caramel-toned, so the finished dish tastes of vegetables and not of fried onion
Stew15 min
medium-low, uncovered
+ tomato + thyme + bay leaf + remaining salt + black pepper, until the tomato has broken down and the liquid has thickened enough to hold a spoon's track = sauce base. This is the only element that is supposed to give up its water
Fold5 min
low, gentle
+ eggplant + zucchini + pepper, folded through the tomato just long enough to heat and marry — stirring hard here mashes the separately-cooked pieces back into the undifferentiated stew you spent an hour avoiding
Rest10 min
off heat, uncovered
- basil
- red wine vinegar
+ basil + vinegar if using, then let it sit. Ratatouille tastes flat straight off the stove; ten minutes lets the oil and tomato juice re-emulsify around the vegetables, and it is better still at room temperature the next day