I don’t think I’ve ever made ratatouille before, which is utterly ridiculous but with a mini glut of courgettes and 3 beetroot that have been lurking in the back of the fridge I thought this courgette, beetroot & potato ratatouille was the perfect dish to create.
I also had some of the amazing slow-cooked tomato sauce leftover from my pizza making the other day which made for the perfect base for the ratatouille. It’s actually such a simple and rustic dish. So uncomplicated and yet delivers so much flavour I’m quite amazed that I’ve not made it until now. When I told The Viking I was making it he did say that ratatouille is the scourge of the vegetarian so he pretty much never fancies it and I can see how that would be the case but hopefully I’ve changed his mind with my version.
traditional vs ‘what you’ve got’
I love messing with traditional dishes, particularly when you need to use up what’s in the fridge so I’m using beetroot instead of red pepper. There’s also no onion in mine but I genuinely think that you make what you can and that’s how we evolve in the food world.
- 1/2 green courgette – cut into thin sliced
- 1/2 yellow courgette – cut into thin slices
- 3 beetroot – cut into thin slices
- a handful of potatoes – cut into thin slices
- fresh herbs
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- smoked paprika – I always use the amazing stuff from La Chinata
- home-made tomato sauce – see link above for the recipe
I’m using my small cast iron cassoulet pot with a lid. It’s roughly 15cm. To be honest any heavy pan which is suitable for the oven and has a lid, would work.
Place the sliced beetroot into a pan of boiling water and let them simmer for 5 mins, drain and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper, then set aside.
Do the same with the potatoes. You want to take the hard edge off them, so a few minutes par-boiling will do that. Once drained, add a teaspoon if smoked paprika and a little butter and stir well, then set aside.
Place the courgettes into a bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Drizzle over some olive oil. I used a wonderful lemon olive oil which was perfect.
Now we’re ready to build the ratatouille. Place a generous layer of tomato sauce at the bottom of the pan and then stack the slices of vegetables on their edges. Ensure you alternate the colours. I saved the potatoes for the middle of the pan. Drizzle over some olive oil and then place the lid on.
Bake on 180C (fan) for 25 – 30 mins
Eat and of course, enjoy!
