Roasted ratatouille recipe

This beautiful and flavoursome roasted ratatouille recipe such a useful recipe to have in your arsenal.

It's not style over substance - this roasted ratatouille tastes as beautiful as it looks. It's so versatile. You can have it as a main dish - great if you're trying to cut down on meat or up your vegetable intake. Alternatively it's a delicious side dish to have, particularly alongside a simply cooked piece of salmon or a meaty white fish like cod or coley. It takes a little time and patience to arrange the vegetable slices into this impressive spiral, but it's not difficult and the result is so pleasing. It creates a showstopper side dish that's worthy of a dinner party. Best of all, it's really low in calories - under 300 per portion.

Ingredients

• 2tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 red pepper, diced
• 2x 400g tinned tomatoes
• 3 sprigs thyme, leave removed from stalks
• 8-10 chopped fresh basil leaves
• 10 baby aubergines, or 2 regular sized ones, thinly sliced
• 3 courgettes, thinly sliced
• 8 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced

For the pesto:

• 25g basil
• 15g pine nuts, toasted
• 15g Parmesan, finely grated
• ½ garlic clove
• 40ml of extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas 6. Heat the oil in a shallow casserole and fry the onion over a medium heat for 5 mins until softened. Add the garlic and pepper and cook for a further 5 mins. Add in the chopped tomatoes and herbs and cook for 5-10 mins. Season to taste.
2. Take slices of the aubergine, courgette and tomatoes and arrange them on top, alternating between each one and placing around the edge of the pan. Repeat with an inner ring inside and finish with the centre. Brush with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 1 hr.
3. Meanwhile, make the pesto by placing all of the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Spoon the pesto on top of the ratatouille and serve with crusty bread.

Top tips for making roasted ratatouille

This recipe serves 4, or 6 as a side dish, but it also makes a great option if there are only one or two of your and you want something you can portion up over 2-3 days. Store leftovers covered in foil or clingfilm, in the fridge and you can have it again for another two days – reheat thoroughly before serving. We think it tastes even better on day 2. The homemade pesto is so quick and simple to make, it might make you rethink ever buying it in jars again. It's worth making twice as much as you need because you can use the leftovers to stir through pasta, in sandwiches or on puff pastry tarts. That said, if you can't find any of the ingredients you can always use a jar of shop-bought instead if needed.

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