Ratatouille Provençal
Known worldwide by its name, the Ratatouille is first and foremost a classic French family dish. Served hot or cold, as a side dish with fish or meat, it holds a special place in all of our memories.
In my family, the recipe calls for slow cooking to preserve all the flavors, and it doesn’t contain any tomatoes.
Ratatouille Provençal
Known worldwide by its name, the Ratatouille is first and foremost a classic French family dish. Served hot or cold, as a side dish with fish or meat, it holds a special place in all of our memories.
In my family, the recipe calls for slow cooking to preserve all the flavors, and it doesn’t contain any tomatoes.
Serves 6
Ingredients
Yellow onions: 6
The same weight in:
- Courgettes
- Red Corno di Toro peppers
- Aubergines
Also:
- Garlic: 1 whole head, fresh if possible
- Basil: leaves from 1 bunch
- Olives: 300g / 10.5 oz
- Thyme: 1 bunch
- Extra virgin olive oil: about 300 ml
- Salt and pepper
In this recipe...
In this recipe...
Serves 6
Preparation
- Peel the garlic, onions and peppers separately. For the peppers, use a tomato peeler with a serrated blade, or place them under the grill in your oven; once the skin has blackened, it will be easy to remove.
- Rinse the other vegetables.
- Cut all the vegetables separately into pieces of about 2 to 3 cm. Discard the pepper seeds.
- Place the onions and garlic in a large enamelled cast-iron casserole dish, add 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper, mix and brown over a fairly high heat. Set aside in a bowl.
- Repeat the same process with the courgettes: brown them in the casserole dish with olive oil, salt and pepper, then set aside. Then do the same with the aubergines.
- Next, return each vegetable to the casserole dish in successive layers, without mixing them. Finish with the peppers and a bunch of thyme.
- Place in the oven for 60 minutes, already preheated to 130°C, then leave to rest for at least 2 hours, ideally 12 hours.
- Remove the cooking juices and heat them in a saucepan until syrupy.
- Pour the reduced juices back over the vegetables with the olives, then leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- Repeat this process — removing the juices, heating them, pouring them back over the vegetables and leaving to rest for 30 minutes — until the vegetables are confit. I usually do this step 3 or 4 times in total.
- Tip: Prepare this dish in advance. It can be kept for several days in the refrigerator and reheated at the last minute. Add the basil leaves just before serving.
