Walk-Away Ratatouille

Overview

🍽️ Serving Size: 6-8

👩‍🍳 Cooks in the Kitchen: Maia

🔪 Prep Time: 2 hr, 🍳 Cook Time: 1 hr 45 min (includes 40 min and 20 min hands-off time)

⏱️ Total Time: 3 hr 45 min

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup plus 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large onions, cut into 1-in pieces
• 8 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• Salt and pepper
• 1½ tsp herbes de Provence
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• Bay leaf
• 1½ lb eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-in pieces
• 2 lb plum tomatoes, cored, peeled, and chopped coarse
• 2 small zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1-in thick
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-in pieces
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp sherry vinegar

Cooking Details

Walk-Away Ratatouille takes a little patience on the front end. There is quite a bit of chopping and prep work. Once everything is prepped though, the cooking is easy and mostly hands-off.

The recipe’s final step suggests transferring the ratatouille to a large platter for serving. I skipped that step and served it straight from the Dutch oven, which worked perfectly well for me and saved an extra dish to wash.

Food Review

This ratatouille dish is delicious. The vegetables become tender and flavorful during the slow cooking process, making the time it takes to get to the table worthwhile.

I served the ratatouille alongside slices of sourdough bread and bacon. The bread was especially good for scooping up tasty bites of ratatouille, and the bacon made the meal feel a little heartier.