Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a classic Provençal dish from southern France, made with stewed summer vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes. It started as humble peasant food but has become a beautiful, comforting staple in kitchens around the world—including mine.

But for me, ratatouille isn't just French comfort food—it’s personal. It’s a staple in my house, a dish I make over and over again, especially in late summer when vegetables are at their peak. And it’s forever marked by one very specific memory: the day I chopped off the top half of my pointer finger with a mandolin slicer while prepping the vegetables. That accident is now part of this dish’s legacy in my kitchen—equal parts pain and passion.

Ingredients

Veggies:

2 medium eggplants
6 roma tomatoes
2 yellow squashes
2 zucchinis

The Famous Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
salt and pepper to taste
28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
2 TBSP chopped basil

Herb seasoning

2 TBSP chopped fresh basil
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 TBSP chopped, fresh parsley
2 tsp fresh thyme
4 TBSP olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Directions

Prep time! ALWAYS PROTECT YOUR FINGERS. Honestly this dish is so dangerous that every chef should wear welding gloves. Slice the eggplant, tomatoes, squash, and zucchini into 1/16 inch rounds with a sharp knife. There are many recipe's that say to use a mandolin because its "efficient" or "it will give you symmetrical rounds" I say NO because a mandolin is a death machine to your fingers.

Make the sauce:

After you are done sacrificing your fingers, heat olive oil in a deep oven safe pan. Later you will have a choose your own adventure moment where you can either use this pan or use a separate dish to cook the Ratatouille in when put into the oven (So my own recommendation, use a Dutch oven).
Sauté the onion, garlic, and bell peppers, then add the crushed tomatoes
Stir this until the tomatoes have become one with the sauce
Remove from the heat, then add the basil
Stir, then smooth the surface with a spatula. This is now your choose your own adventure moment. You can either:
A. Keep the sauce in this pan and move on or B. Transfer the sauce into a different oven safe dish. Choose wisely!
Now you will do the hardest part of this dish. Arrange the sliced vegetables in an alternating pattern on top of the smoothed sauce. Start on the outside and make a ring, and work your way to the inside.
Salt and pepper lightly(there will be more seasoning so don't go over board).

Make the herb seasoning:

In a ramakin mix together all the listed herbs and oils from your list.
You can either brush or spoon the seasoning over the vegetables(I like to brush it).
Depending on your dish either cover the pan with foil or a lid and bake for 40 minutes.
Uncover the pan and bake for another 20 minutes.
Take your dish out and hide it from all your family members because after a while your kitchen will be filled with curious creatures wondering where the herbaceous smell is coming from.
Serve warm with love!