Julie’s Ratatouille

Despite what the name suggests, this isn’t Julie’s recipe, but I’m dedicating it to her following the pressure she put me under to post it on this site. And it rhymes. Perhaps I should have called it Rata-Julie 😉

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 courgettes, diced
• 1 aubergine, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3 tomatoes, diced or 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 teaspoon of rosemary
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 500g of passata
• Sea salt & black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C
2. Drizzle a large, shallow oven-proof dish with the olive oil and add all of the chopped vegetables and tomatoes, ensuring that they’re evenly mixed. Toss to lightly coat in the oil.
3. Sprinkle with the rosemary & thyme and season with salt and pepper. You can also use 2 teaspoons of mixed herbs or Herbes de Provence instead of the rosemary & thyme for a variation.
4. Coat with the passata and mix well.
5. Cover with tinfoil or a lid and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes, remove the foil/lid and stir. Return to the oven uncovered for a further 15 minutes. In my oven this cooking time results in a slightly al dente texture. Adjust as appropriate.

Ratatouille usually includes red, orange or yellow peppers, but the first time I made this, I had forgotten to buy them and I think it’s tasty enough without them. Add them if you disagree…