Rustic Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a perfect summer dish that uses a mix of seasonal vegetables and can be quite the show stopper with the variety of colors and creative patterns. It’s delicious no matter how you put it together, but it’s certainly fun to create a work of art that you can eat!

Ingredients

• 2 skinny eggplants*
• 2 small yellow squash
• 2 small zucchini
• 6 roma tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for Topping

• 4 Tbl olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Slice eggplants, zucchini, squash, and roma tomatoes very thin: approximately 1/16″. Set aside.

Heat olive oil in an oven safe pan and saute red pepper, onion, and garlic for 2 minutes. The onion should be translucent but not browned. Add salt, crushed tomatoes, and basil. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 5-10 minutes. Remove pan from heat.

This is where you can get creative! You don’t have to layer the sliced vegetables in any particular pattern. You can toss them all in the pan and bake it that way, but it’s more fun to make that pretty layer.

Mix together the topping ingredients and spoon over your vegetables. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from heat and bake an additional 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

This is also a delicious meal the next day. Heat oven to 350 F and bake the covered dish for 15 minutes or until warm.

Nutrient information provided using Lose It! App

Ratatouille 

Servings 8 | 180 Calories per Serving

18 g carbohydrate; 4 g protein; 0 mg cholesterol; 10 g fat; 7 g fiber; 344 mg sodium

Tips and Tricks

Many grocery stores only carry the very bulbous eggplants. You can still use this kind, but slice the pieces in half so that it when you arrange your dish you’re only using a hemisphere instead of the full round.

Slicing the vegetables is much faster if you have access to a mandolin slicer; however, you don’t need to make the pieces completely uniform. This is a rustic dish and is just as delicious if you simply cut the vegetables into cubes. But, it’s so fun to make the patterns!

Don’t have an oven safe saute pan or large enough skillet? Transfer your cooked sauce to a 9×13″ casserole dish and arrange in that dish instead.

This is an excellent dish on its own; however, if you’re looking to make it a more robust meal you can use it as a pasta topping, side dish for a lean protein, or serve with polenta.

Don’t have fresh thyme, parsley, or basil? The common substitute for fresh to dried is      1 Tablespoon of fresh is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of dried.