Oven-baked ratatouille is the perfect fall side dish. It’s warm and saucy and adds a hint of sweetness to any main dish.
Baked ratatouille is a delicious and healthy dish that not only looks pretty but also tastes amazing. The longer cooking process makes the sauce and veggies buttery and soft. All the flavours marry beautifully into one cohesive dish.
Ratatouille originated in France as a peasant dish. It was the perfect way to use up the harvest of late summer.
Here in Ontario, it’s that time of year when all the hard work in the garden comes to fruition so I thought it was the perfect time to make this dish.
If you have a herb garden, it is also going to come in handy. The earthy flavours of fresh rosemary and thyme really bring this dish together.
Preparing Baked Ratatouille
Ingredients
Produce
Yellow Onions: Onion is a very common vegetable that is used both raw and cooked in food preparation. It has a sharp flavour raw that often sweetens once cooked. There are many varieties of onions, some that are milder than others. We use the common onion or yellow onion in this recipe.
Zucchini: Also known as courgette, this summer squash adds the perfect sweetness to this recipe. Zucchini and tomato sauce are the perfect pairing in my opinion.
Eggplant: There are many varieties of eggplant though they are pretty similar. Some are more spongy and sweeter than others but generally speaking they all have a spongy meaty inside with small seeds in the center. Eggplant is a nightshade and is full of nutrients including fiber, potassium and vitamin B6.
Roma tomatoes: Tomatoes are actually a fruit, despite most people believing them to be vegetables. Roma tomatoes are plum tomatoes and are commonly used for making sauces and for canning because they don’t have many seeds. They have an elongated shape and are a deep red when fully ripe.
Garlic: Garlic is a bulb that is edible and is grown in soil. Though the green shoots it sprouts, called garlic scapes, are also edible, we are referring to the actual bulb that the scapes grow from. Garlic bulbs are made up of multiple cloves and depending on the variety you may have anywhere from 4 to 10 cloves, if not more. This is important to know because recipes will often call for a specific number of cloves which can vary in size greatly.
Herbs
Thyme: This herb has an amazing flavour that goes so well with most meats and veggies. It is part of the mint family and is a small bush, with branches that are covered in small leaves. We use a whole sprig or branch per packet so no need to pick off the leaves.
Rosemary: Rosemary is a perennial herb that has stiff long stems with long green, evergreen-like, leaves. It does flower with purple blooms. The leaves are fragrant and are used for cooking and baking. This plant is native to the Mediterranean.
Herbs de Provence: Traditionally the
herb mixture from the Provence region of France includes a combination of thyme, rosemary, marjoram, tarragon and oregano.Oregano: Oregano is a plant from the mint family. It’s used as s herb and has a very potent flavour. Dried oregano is the leaves of the fresh plant that has been air-dried.
Pantry
Passata: Passata is strained tomatoes which has the consistency of tomato sauce. Once cooked down it thickens slightly but not too much as it doesn’t have too much excess liquid.
Olive oil: I use olive oil for this recipe because of its mild flavour. Olive oil is the fat extracted from olives. The least processed is extra virgin olive oil, which I use in this recipe.
How to Make Baked Ratatouille
Ratatouille may seem daunting but the truth is that it’s quite a simple recipe. With this baked version of ratatouille, all the stewing happens in the oven so once you’ve prepped everything the dish cooks itself.
Start by making the sauce. In a small pot, heat up the olive oil. Once hot press in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, do not brown. Add the passata, add the dry herbs and salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes.
I like ratatouille to be a bit more on the saucy side. However, if you prefer it less saucy cut the sauce recipe by a quarter.
If you like the sauce but don’t want it to be too runny, you can thicken it with a slurry. Add a teaspoon of flour to a teaspoon of cold water and stir until the flour is dissolved. Add to the saucepan and stir until thickened.
Slice the onions, zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes into 1/4” slices. You do not need to peel the eggplant, zucchini or tomato for this recipe. In fact, you want to leave the skin on for the beautiful colours.
If you have a mandolin this is the perfect recipe to dust it off for. You will notice the difference, trust me. The timing of this recipe assumes you don’t have a mandolin so you can easily cut the time in half if you do.
TIP: One of the things that I love about this dish is that you can prep it in advance. You can stop here and do the baking the next day. Or continue with the rest of the recipe and simply reheat when needed.
It makes this dish perfect for meal prep or for a holiday dinner when making things ahead of time is the key to success.
Next, you need to preheat the oven to 375°. While the oven is warming, we will assemble the ingredients.
TIP: You don’t need to assemble the ratatouille the way that I have suggested. This is simply for presentation purposes. Stacking the ingredients does ensure that you get one of everything in every bite when serving but of course, you can achieve this in other ways.
I like to use a casserole dish for this baked ratatouille since this is essentially a ratatouille casserole of sorts.
If you have cooking spray, spray the bottom of the baking dish then add ¾ of the tomato sauce to the bottom of the dish. Next, add the vegetables in stacks. Stack one slice of each vegetable one on top of the other and place it in the oven-safe dish on its side (see the video below).
The goal is to make a circular pattern starting from the outside of the baking dish and working your way in. This will create a pretty presentation. Once you have all of your vegetables in, add the remainder of the sauce in between the rounds of vegetables and in the outer edges.
Place the fresh herbs on top and cover with aluminum foil. Bake covered for 50 minutes.
Substitutions
Zucchini: you can use any kind of zucchini you have on hand. The reason I use green and yellow is simply for the beautiful colours.
Eggplant: Once again any type of eggplant will work though some varieties are sweeter than others. I found this Chinese eggplant in my local grocery store which is the perfect diameter to match the rest of the veggies. If you can only find a larger variety simply cut the slices in half or into quarters. Note that the Chinese eggplant is slightly sweeter than the standard variety so the flavour may be impacted slightly.
Onion: I used yellow onion but any onion will be great. Red onion will make this dish even sweeter which I think is a bonus.
Fresh Herbs: If you don’t have fresh herbs on hand feel free to use dried. Use about half a teaspoon of each to substitute.
Serving Baked Ratatouille
Ratatouille is the perfect side. It’s saucy, healthy, flavourful and looks pretty in the baking dish. Try it as a side for your next family holiday. I am certain your guests will be impressed.
I like to serve this baked ratatouille on the side of chicken parmesan. Though this is mixing cuisine cultures I promise it tastes delicious. The sauce from the ratatouille is the perfect complement to the slight saltiness of chicken parm.
Store this dish in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Reheat in the oven in an oven-safe dish or in the microwave.
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Baked Ratatouille Recipe
Equipment
- 9” baking dish
- Knife and cutting board (or mandolin)
Ingredients
- 2 small onions
- 1 green zucchini
- 1 Chinese eggplant
- 1 yellow zucchini
- 3 Roma tomatoes
- 2 fresh thyme sprigs
- 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
- Cooking spray optional
Sauce:
- 660 ml passata
- 1 tsp Herbs de Provence
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 garlic clove 1 tsp
- ½ tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a small pot, heat up the olive oil. Once hot press in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, do not brown. Add the passata, add the dry herbs and salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.660 ml passata, 1 tsp Herbs de Provence, 1 tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp salt, 1 garlic clove, ½ tbsp olive oil, ¼ tsp pepper
- While the sauce is simmering, slice the onions, zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes into 1/4” slices.2 small onions, 1 green zucchini, 1 Chinese eggplant, 1 yellow zucchini, 3 Roma tomatoes
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Spray the bottom of an oven-safe dish with cooking spray and add ¾ of the tomato sauce. Then add the vegetables in stacks. Stack one slice of each vegetable and place it in the oven-safe dish on its side in a circular pattern starting from the outside and working your way in. This will create a pretty presentation. Add the remainder of the sauce in between the vegetables.2 small onions, 1 green zucchini, 1 Chinese eggplant, 1 yellow zucchini, Cooking spray, 3 Roma tomatoes
- Place the fresh herbs on top and cover with aluminum foil. Bake covered for 50 minutes.2 fresh thyme sprigs, 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
- Serve as a side to your favourite protein, on pasta or on its own.
