I love Disney Pixar’s adorable movie: Ratatouille. If you have not watched it yet, I highly recommend you do! It will make you fall in love with cooking! Ever since watching Remy cook those colorful layers of fresh veggies, and garlicky tomato sauce, over a decade ago, I made it my mission to replicate the dish! I’m confident that food critic Anton Ego would be proud of this recipe!
This is basically a delicious veggie casserole with beautiful layers of yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, and bell pepper on a bed of flavorful tomato sauce. It is such a comforting vegetarian dish that is also low in calories!
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups of your favorite tomato sauce (I use basil infused)
6 garlic cloves, minced (more or less to taste- I love garlic!)
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of salt and black pepper
1 thin eggplant, sliced very thinly
1 zucchini, sliced very thinly
1 yellow squash, sliced very thinly
1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced very thinly
1 yellow bell pepper, cored and sliced very thinly
STEPS:
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Spread your tomato sauce into the bottom of a 10x10 inch baking dish. Add the garlic and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Mix it until it’s well combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange alternating slices of eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper, starting at the outer edge of the dish and working concentrically towards the center. I like to overlap the vegetable slices a bit to display the colors. Drizzle the vegetables with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.
Top with a few sprigs of thyme. Cover the baking dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit the inside of the dish.
Bake in the preheated oven for bout 45 minutes, until vegetables are roasted and tender.
Bon appétit!
**If you prefer a Meatatarian Ratatouille, here are some instructions for you. You could use a ground meat such as ground sausage or ground beef: Cook and stir ground meat in a large skillet over medium heat until the sausage or beef is crumbly and no longer pink, it will take about 10 minutes. You can prepare this ahead of time, even a day before. When you assemble your Ratatouille, you can sprinkle the meat between the layers of vegetables. Alternatively, you could choose to have sides to go with your Ratatouille for a heartier meal. Sides that work well with this dish: pasta, rice, quinoa, couscous, risotto, meat such as flank steak, chicken, lamb, pork chops, etc. The possibilities are endless! :)