Ratatouille - A French Veggie Stew

Have you heard of the movie Ratatouille? It's a Disney Animation Movie, whose story involves the dish Ratatouille. And I watched this movie when I was doing my schooling (I didn't know much about food and cooking back then🙊) and loved how pretty the dish looked! I was fascinated!😍

I used to pronounce the name as Rat-at-uillee whereas it's pronounced as rat-at-toolee. I was in love with how beautiful it looked. If you are fond of roasted veggies, then you're definitely going to love this meal. The tomato gravy acts as a sauce to go with the veggies, they are cooked till tender and has charred a bit. I love my veggies crisp, the more you bake, the crisper and it enhances the flavor (keep an eye while it gets done, you don't want it to burn😁).

Ratatouille is a veggie stew, where the veggies are thinly sliced and placed in a consistent fashion around the dish. Basically, it is a healthy and tasty meal idea. I am sure, anyone who sees the ratatouille will be amazed. I love how tasty it turned out as I was a little reluctant to try it. You must definitely try this out if you're looking for a recipe for guilt-free eating. My hubby and dad loved it. They were saying I had to make more such dishes since it was delicious at the same time healthy too. Being it a French dish I doubted my dad would like it but I was proven wrong. 

But hey! I don't know about yours, our fam has this thing, everything we eat has to have a companion. Like in the case of this dish, it's more like a veggie stew, so it has to be had with some roti. To compensate that I paired it with some homemade pita bread to go with the extra tomato gravy. 🍅So let's make some Ratatouille! You're gonna love it. ❤️

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of Tomato puree/ crushed tomato (fresh/tin, tetra pack)
• Dried Oregano, to taste
• Red Chilli flakes, to taste
• Dried Basil, to taste
• 1 tsp Minced Garlic
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Pinch of Sugar
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 aubergine/eggplant
• 2 red bell pepper/ tomatoes
• 4-5 zucchini
• 2 Potatoes/ yellow bell pepper
• Salt, pepper, thyme, olive oil to drizzle

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 190°C. 
2. Slice all the veggies into thin rounds using a sharp knife. Add some salt, pepper, oregano, Thyme and a drizzle of olive oil to the veggies and give it a toss.
3. To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a 12-inch (30-cm) oven-safe pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Season with salt and pepper, then add the crushed tomatoes. Stir until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Add the red chili flakes. Remove from heat, then add the dried basil. Stir once more, then smooth the surface of the sauce with a spatula.
4. Arrange the veggies over the tomato sauce, alternating the colors in a consistent manner, starting from the outer edge, and ending in the middle of the pan. Season if required. Drizzle a good amount of olive oil over the veggies. 
5. Bake for 35-40 mins until the veggies have softened and completely cooked and develops a crispy effect on the edge of the veggies.
6. Serve with some crusty bread or pita bread or as a main course itself. 
7. 

Notes:

• It tastes best the next day, reheat for 15 minutes or simply microwave.
• I used fresh tomatoes pureed and some tomato paste too.
• It is usually prepared with tomatoes, I used red bell pepper instead. 
  

Do try this recipe and don't forget to share your experience/feedback with me here in the comments or feel free to send me a mail. Also, do tag me at #taystedit if you try out my recipes on Facebook, Instagram etc so that I can see when you make it. ♡♡♡♡