It’s the middle of summer. 85 degrees out right now. And I’m posting a recipe for roasted ratatouille that will tell you to run your oven for 3 hours. That’s how good this recipe is. I’m posting now in preparation for ratatouille season – the magical time in the summer when fresh zucchini, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes are all at their peak deliciousness, just begging to be combined into a perfect meal.
We cook a couple of double batches in the summer and freeze the ratatouille in quarts containers. And lemme tell you, it’s even better tasting when you get to enjoy these summer vegetables in the dead of winter.
Click here for a PDF version of this recipe.
Roasted Ratatouille
1lb Ground Pork
12 ounces eggplant, (about 1), chopped into 1-inch pieces, see notes above re quantities
1 1/4 pounds tomatoes, chopped into 1-inch pieces
12 ounces zucchini (about 2), chopped into 1-inch pieces
2 red bell (or other) peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 yellow or white onion, chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 to 1/2 cups olive oil, see notes above
2 to 4 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, optional
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
Freshly cracked pepper to taste
For the Pasta
dried pasta
roasted ratatouille
freshly grated parmesan
basil
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Heat Tbsp olive oil in a large Dutch oven or skillet. Add ground pork and cook until browned. Remove pork from skillet/Dutch oven.
2. In a large roasting pan (or the Dutch oven you cooked the pork in), combine the tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, onion, shallot, and garlic. Note: I add the vegetables to the pan as I finish chopping them, and sprinkle each layer of vegetables lightly with salt.
3. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, thyme, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Add ground pork to vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Season with pepper. (Alternatively: If you’ve seasoned each layer of vegetables generously with salt, simply pour the olive oil and vinegar over the vegetables. As noted above, I omit the thyme.)
4. Bake for 30 minutes, then stir well. Bake for another 30 to 45 minutes (or longer, especially if you’ve increased the quantities: if my roasting pan is really loaded, I roast the vegetables for 3 hours, stirring once every hour, until the juices really begin to reduce/thicken) until the vegetables are all very tender and the released juices are beginning to thicken. Taste and adjust seasoning with more salt and pepper as desired.
5. To serve, spoon over toast or toss with cooked pasta, grated parmesan, finely chopped basil and enough of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to make a nice sauce.