Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 2
Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced (red if possible)
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 2 small courgettes
- 2 red or yellow peppers
- 4 medium potatoes
- 300 ml tomato sauce
- ½ a bunch of fresh basil, (if you do not have fresh, add saffron instead)
- extra virgin olive oil q.b.
- salt, pepper
- 2 teaspoons chopped thyme (and/or other provencal herbs)
How to make it
- First, get all the vegetables washed, peeled and chopped into 2.5 cm chunks.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large casserole pan over a low heat with the onion and the garlic.
- After 10 minutes add the chopped potatoes and peppers.
- Ten minutes later add the courgettes and a good pinch of salt, black pepper and the torn basil leaves (or saffron) and thyme leaves.
- Mix well, add the tomato sauce.
- Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, adding water if needed.
- Season with salt, add the thyme leaves.
- Serve (hot or cold) either alongside roasted or grilled meats and fish or as a vegetarian main course over rice or couscous.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
I cook all the vegetables in the same pan even if the original recipe requires them to be cooked separately, but on the boat first I haven’t so many pans and second I prefer to use the water to take a shower rather than to clean them.
I have mainly two versions of this recipe: one with fresh basil and the other with saffron (if I do not have the plant).
PERHAPS NOT EVERYONE KNOWS THAT…
- Ratatouille is a French Provençal culinary speciality from Nice, known as ratatouille niçoise, a stewed of summer vegetable dish. The word “ratatouille” comes from the Occitan ratatolha and the French touiller which mean stirring.
- A Ratatouille “classic” consisted of tomatoes, courgettes, peppers plus garlic, onions and Provençal herbs.
- It’s really similar to the Italian speciality “caponata” from Sicily in which vinegar, olives and capers are added.