Classic Baked Ratatouille

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make classic baked ratatouille? First, get the ingredients ready for the tomato sauce. Wash the vegetables well and peel the onion. Use any vegetable oil, as long as it's refined.

2. Step 2:

   

   Score an X in the bottom of each tomato, then drop them into boiling water for 2–3 minutes.

3. Step 3:

   

   Slip the skins off the tomatoes and cut the flesh into small cubes.

4. Step 4:

   

   Leaving the stem on, roast the bell pepper in an oven preheated to 425°F (220°C) for about 15–25 minutes, until the skin is charred in spots. I roasted mine in a baking bag. Judge the time and temperature by your own oven.

5. Step 5:

   

   Let the pepper cool right in the bag, then peel off the skin. Remove the seeds and stem.

6. Step 6:

   

   Cut the flesh of the roasted bell pepper into small pieces.

7. Step 7:

   

   Finely dice the peeled onion.

8. Step 8:

   

   Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the onion and cook for about 4–5 minutes until translucent, stirring with a spatula so it doesn't burn.

9. Step 9:

   

   Add the chopped tomatoes to the skillet and simmer everything over low heat for about 8–10 minutes.

10. Step 10:

    

    Add the chopped bell pepper to the onion and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, stir, and simmer for another 3–5 minutes.

11. Step 11:

    

    Prep the rest of the ingredients. Wash and dry the tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant. Pick a long, straight eggplant so its diameter is fairly even along its whole length.

12. Step 12:

    

    Cut the zucchini into rounds about 1/8 inch (2 mm) thick. You can also use regular green or yellow squash. If the skin is tough, peel it, but it's best to use squash with tender skin so you don't have to.

13. Step 13:

    

    Cut the tomatoes into rounds as well.

14. Step 14:

    

    Cut the eggplant into rounds the same thickness as the zucchini and tomatoes, salt them, and let them sit for 10 minutes to draw out the bitterness. Then rinse the eggplant with cold water.

15. Step 15:

    

    Finely mince the peeled garlic with a knife or press it.

16. Step 16:

    

    In a bowl, mix the vegetable oil, minced garlic, herbes de Provence, ground black pepper, and salt.

17. Step 17:

    

    Pour all the sauce into a baking dish. Use a fairly deep dish so all the vegetable rounds fit. Mine wasn't very deep, and my tomatoes and eggplant were large in diameter, so I had to halve them.

18. Step 18:

    

    Arrange the tomato, zucchini, and eggplant rounds on top, alternating them. The vegetables should be about half submerged in the sauce. Drizzle the garlic-herb oil over the top.

19. Step 19:

    

    Cover the dish with foil and bake in an oven preheated to 400°F (200°C) for about 1 hour. Judge the exact time and temperature by your own oven.

20. Step 20:

    

    Then remove the foil and bake the vegetables for another 20–30 minutes. Enjoy!