Saturday, May 11, 2013

The traditional ratatouille recipe (la recette de la ratatouille traditionelle)

Month ago, I cooked my "daily ratatouille".
This was a fast recipe and I promised you I would show you how to cook the real one, one day. 

As for a lot of dishes, each grandma cooks her own ratatouille and each of them will tell you "Mine is the REAL one" ...

The only thing which is sure for this dish is each vegetable must cook alone, first.

You'll need time, but not too much, don't worry.

Here's what you'll need for 4-5 persons.
  • 2 eggplants
  • 3 zucchini/courgettes
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 2 onions
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Some herbes de provence
  • 2 bay leafs
  • Olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar

Your oven must be preheated at 180°C (350°F / th 6)

This dish is definitively better if you cook it the day before.

Step 1 : 
In 2 tablespoon of olive oil and on a low fire, let brown onions for 5 minutes.


When it's done, pour them in a dish who can go into oven.


Step 2 : 
Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cut peppers in small cubes and let them brown 5 minutes, on a medium fire.
Pour them into the oven dish, too.



Step 3 : 
Do the same for eggplants and courgettes. Add some olive oil (more for eggplants, because they "drink" it) and let brown for 5 minutes, on a medium fire.
Then, in the oven dish.





Step 4 : 
Cut tomatoes in small cubes too and pour them into the dish, without cooking them. 



Step 5 :
Add herbs de Provence, salt, pepper, one teaspoon of white sugar, exploded garlic and bay leafs.





Stir all this, put a lid on it.
In the oven for 1 hour.
If you cook it the day before, when time is over, turn off the oven, but let the dish in it for the entire night.
The D day, just let it cook for 20 minutes on a low fire, without lid.

That's it. 


Bon appétit ! 


Recapitulative for 4-5 persons.
  • 2 eggplants
  • 3 zucchini/courgettes
  • 1 red pepper
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 4 tomatoes
  • 2 onions
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Some herbes de provence
  • 2 bay leafs
  • Olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
Your oven must be preheated at 180°C (350°F / th 6)

This dish is definitively better if you cook it the day before.

In 2 tablespoon of olive oil and on a low fire, let brown onions for 5 minutes.

When it's done, pour them in a dish who can go into oven.

Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil, cut peppers in small cubes and let them brown 5 minutes, on a medium fire.
Pour them into the oven dish, too.

Do the same for eggplants and courgettes. Add some olive oil (more for eggplants, because they "drink" it) and let brown for 5 minutes, on a medium fire.
Then, in the oven dish.

Cut tomatoes in small cubes too and pour them into the dish, without cooking them. 

Add herbs de Provence, salt, pepper, one teaspoon of white sugar, exploded garlic and bay leafs.

Stir all this, put a lid on it.
In the oven for 1 hour.

If you cook it the day before, when time is over, turn off the oven, but let the dish in it for the entire night.
The D day, just let it cook for 20 minutes on a low fire, without lid.

19 comments:

  1. Aaaahhhhh j'adooooooooooooore la ratatouille :D Sometimes I cut the vegetables in little cubes et mix them with herbs, salt, and a bit of olive oil, and I simply put them in a dish in the oven, without the lid. Then, I let them grill (high heat) and mix them every 15 minutes so they don't burn, for about an hour. I LOVE this :) In the summer, I could live on ratatouille and nothing else!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes, this is a GREAT idea ! I'll try it one day ! You even even mix it with pasta, why not ? I have to say, my mom used to make a "microwave ratatouille". She used to cook it so often that for years, I couldn't eat ratatouille no more !! :D
      And even now, this is not my favorite dish.
      But the positive point of this dish is that you can even eat it cold. And in summer, that's THE TOP ! :)

      Delete
  2. Dear Axelle-High five! I have been WAITING for this! Thank you for giving us the REAL recipe. Regards-Jamie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Jamie, I'm happy if you're happy :D
      Tell me if you liked it, please !

      Delete
  3. This recipe is a good reason to go visit the Farmer's Market this week. We have a bay plant growing in our yard. It is so tall that we need to prune it, but want to do it when we can share the leaves with our friends and family to use for cooking.
    Thank you Axelle for this recipe! love and prayers, jep

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're very lucky to have this plant, in your garden. We take our bay leafs from my mother in law's garden.
      I think we should have a lot of aromatics plants in our garden, or balcony. This is so practical :)
      Thank you for your comment, Jep.
      Friendly,

      Delete
  4. The red and yellow peppers add some very nice color to this recipe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right : I never use green pepper, except for my diet soup :)
      With red and yellow pepper, it's just like to have summer in your plate.

      Delete
  5. I LOVE ratatouille! This is a wonderful post in explaining the real, authentic way to make it. I admit that I cheat and do not cook my vegetables by themselves. I will definitely try it your way the next time I make it. I also love to serve ratatouille on polenta. Not exactly French, but still delicious!

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    Replies
    1. You're right, Claudia. Polenta and ratatouille can go well together. You know, Polenta is Italian and ratatouille was first cooked to Nice, which was Italian for decades, years ago :)

      Delete
  6. Hello Axelle! I just want to say thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!!! Its just like my grandmothers and ive been going mad trying to recreate or find a recipe close to what her's used to taste like. My family comes from mixed stock; mostly French, French-Canadian and Native American (and Canadian) Indian. I grew up with delicious mixed cultural foods, but my favorite french dish was always my grandmother's Ratatouille! There was nothing like going over to my grandparents house in the chill of fall for a nice dish of ratatouille. My mother didnt inherit my grandmother's give for cooking so after my grandma couldnt make it, i never thought id be able to eat traditional home cooked ratatouille or pass those happy food memories on to my children. Thank you so much for this recipe! My family loves it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Kittie9000, your post touched me so much, you can't imagine. It's a very beautiful family story you've told me and for some minutes, I felt in Remy's shoes (Ratatouille Disney cartoon) with the Culinary Criticism Man :)
      I love your "genealogical tree", as we say in french. I don't know too many things about History but I know our French History were linked with Native American Indian, in Canada. ANd I'm really, truly happy to know that "my" ratatouille" traveled to you and bring you some sweet memories :)
      Very friendly.
      Thank you for your comment.

      Delete
  7. It's been 5 years since this post Axelle- and the treasure of your recipe will never expire! I am a Canadian living and loving eastern France with my copainion. Thank you for bringing your home cooking into our kitchen :) Bisous!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, this is why cooking is for ! To be shared ab-nd I'm very happy to know my ratatouille is still travelling :)

      Delete
  8. I am a junior high French teacher in the United States and will be making this dish to serve to my students at our monthly French club meeting next week. I was looking for something authentic, and i'm so glad that I found this site!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Jscreager, I truly hope you and your students will love this dish :) and you can't imagine how I'm happy to know that !
      I hope too you'll maybe find some other recipes on this blog, that you'll try. All are authentic and "real" :)
      Thank you, you made my day.

      Delete
    2. J'enverrai une message après l'activité!

      Delete
    3. Ce serait très gentil ! Merci beaucoup. A bientôt :)

      Delete
  9. Hi! Salut!
    I wonder if you can tell me what herbs you put in your herbes de Provence?
    Merci beaucoup!
    -Mark

    ReplyDelete