Ratatouille Provençale (Classic Recipe)

Hello everyone!

I've noticed a lot of Confit Byaldi (the "fake" Ratatouille from the Pixar movie) being submitted on Reddit but no real ratatouille. The Confit is a very good dish but quite long to prepare.

I'm a French guy born and raised in Provence (where the classic dish comes from) so I thought I would share the recipe of the classic "Ratatouille Provençale".

Ingredients (2-3 servings)

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (the actual spoon, not the U.S measurement unit which varies from one country to another)
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2-3 oignons
• 2 eggplants
• 2 big zucchinis
• 2 big bellpeppers (red or green)
• 3 tomatoes with tomato paste OR just tomato sauce (300 mL)
• Thyme, Oregano, Rosemary and 2 bay leaves.
• Salt and pepper
• 1 big saucepan with a lid and a big wooden spoon

Recipe

• All ingredients should be at room temperature
• Dice the onions
• Finely chop the garlic cloves
• Put the saucepan on medium heat and add the oil, wait 30 seconds so it's hot enough
• Add the onion and garlic, stir so that the oil evenly coats all the bits, put the lid on, let it cook until it becomes translucent (3-5 min)
• Put it on low heat
• Add the tomato sauce (or tomatoes + paste) and all the herbs
• Let it cook 10-15 minutes (with the lid on), the goal here is to remove the acidity from the tomato to keep things sweet. If you want to cheat, you can add a pinch of sugar.
• Wash and dice the eggplants in 1.5 cm parts (don't peel it) then add it into the mix.
• Wash, seed, and dice the bellpeppers in 1.5 cm parts then add it into the mix.
• Wash and dice the zucchinis in 1,5 cm parts (don't peel it) then add it in to the mix.
• Add pepper and coarse salt (it'll make the vegetables sweat) and stir the ingredients a bit to avoid having layers.
• Let it cook with the lid on long enough for all the ingredients to soften and sweat the water out (25 min?)
• Remove the lid. There should be quite a lot of water in the saucepan.
• Put it on low heat and let it cook for a while, just checking from time to time if nothing is burning. If the water is evaporating too fast, lower the heat or put the lid back on for a few minutes (30-40 min).
• Just taste if everything is cooked enough (some people like a bit of texture, others prefer when everything is super soft).
• Season if needed and put the whole thing on high heat.
• Let the ingredients caramelize a bit but not burn, you should hear them fry for 30-40 secs then stir the whole thing so that all ingredients are evenly caramelized.
• You should notice the ratatouille going from a colourful arrangement of distinct colours to a more uniform and creamy brown-red color. The whole thing should look like a messy mushy working-class dish, which it exactly is. It's NOT a particularly good-looking dish.
• You should be able to taste all the ingredients yet it should feel like a uniform, slightly sweetened taste.

Additional info

• I personally love to eat ratatouille with buckweat wholegrain semolina, but honestly it goes very well with rice or quinoa.

• Some people also like to add some fried eggs in their plate.

• It's also very good served cold or at room temperature.

• Very healthy (low calories), very filling and very tasty. It's great when you're on a diet and don't feel like starving yourself.

• It's a pretty straightforward recipe so it relies on good products. It's always better to go for smaller, tastier organic vegetables and adjust the quantities than go for big tasteless products. Definitely a summer dish to eat when the ingredients are in season.

submitted by /u/n0ggy
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