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Delightfully Soupy & Hearty Ratatouille
3 MINUTE TL;DR READ | 10 MINUTE FULL READ
BY: DAVID OLKOVETSKY
Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 30 mins | Servings: 6 servings
The Fresh New Ratatouille Your Family Will Obsess Over
Ratatouille is one of those dishes that seem fancy and out of reach, but trust us, it's not. Not only is it simple and fairly quick to make, it's easy to make in voluminous quantity. Yes, time saving meal preparation is a favorite over here at Artisan Revere, and there aren't many dishes we can think of that are nutritionally dense, healthy, and delightful. Not to mention, it's supremely versatile, and goes well with fish, meat, rice, pasta, or bread. Go ahead, give this a go — your tastebuds and doctor will be happy.
So here's the SECRET. Make it a day in advance if you can. Ratatouille, while fantastic hot, is best served cold.
Contents:
Ingredients & Tools
Ingredients:
1 eggplant cut in 1” thick cubes
2 large zucchini in 1/4” thick slices or half moons
2 large yellow squash in 1/4" thick slices or half moons
1# bag of carrots, peeled & cut in a large dice
2 large bell peppers cut into a large dice
8 oz of mushrooms of your choice (non-traditional)
1 large onion, sliced or diced
1 28oz can of peeled tomatoes, drained and rough chopped or pureed
½ head of garlic, roughly chopped
1 bag of spinach
8 oz. of bone broth (optional)
Olive oil
Salt + pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon each: thyme + rosemary + oregano
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Fresh basil chiffonade
Tools:
A Sharp Petty Knife and/or Chef's Knife
Cutting Board (end-grain is preferable)
Mise en place bowls
Large non-stick pot or dutch oven
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Colander
Preparation
TL;DR Directions (Short Version):
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Prep & cut eggplant, zucchini and squash to size. Salt and then dry.
Eggplant: 1” cubes. Optionally, place in collander, add salt, and mix over sink or large bowl. Let sit for 15-30 minutes to help remove the the bitterness. Wash off the salt and pat dry with towel.
Zucchini & Squash: 1/4” half moons or slices.
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Carrots: large dice or faux tourné
Mushrooms: large slices
Bell Peppers: large dice
Onion: large dice or slices
Garlic: large pieces in a rough chop
Tomatoes: skinned, rough chopped or pureed
Spinach: as is
Heat up a large non-stick skillet or non-stick pot on medium-low heat for about 2 minutes, until warm.
Add coconut oil or light olive oil. Coconut oil is a personal favorite — I love the flavor it adds, but it’s not for everyone. Olive oil works amazingly well too. Keep the oil on the pan for about 1 minute so it gets warm. Reduce to low heat.
Add onions and carrots to the pot. Heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent.
Add half the garlic you cut, and heat for about 1 minute until fragrant.
If you'd like, add a tablespoon of tomato paste.
Add zucchini, squash, eggplant, mushrooms. Cover and heat on low for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence.
Add spinach, tomatoes, and garlic. If you'd like to sweeten, you can sprinkle in a bit of sugar. Cover and heat for another 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Optional: Add 4 oz. of bone broth. Stir. Remove the lid. Continue to simmer.
Add the remaining 4 oz. Heat for another 10-30 minutes on low heat, until you've achieved desired consistency.
Let cool. Ratatouille is best served cold.
Shop Our Top Tools
The Chef’s Knife
Small Petty Knife
End-Grain Cutting Board
Detailed Provencal Ratatouille Preparation Process
Detailed Directions:
Ratatouille is a fairly forgiving dish, so you should feel free to experiment. If you don't like certain ingredients, or have issues with nightshades like eggplant, skip them (this author often does).
1. Prepare your eggplant & zucchini first.
Cut the ends of the eggplant and zucchini. Remove the skin from eggplant with a peeler. Cut both into 1" cubes. Place a collander over a large bowl. Add the eggplant and zucchini to the collander and toss with salt. Let it sit there for 15-30 minutes. Wash off the salt and then place them in a baking sheet and press down lightly with paper towel to remove the excess moisture.
Science of why we salt eggplant: Eggplant used to be bitter. But thanks to modern agriculture, this is has mostly been eliminated. Now, we salt eggplant and zucchini to draw out the water and season it.
2. Cut the remaining vegetables to size.
You can do this while the eggplant and zucchini are in the colander. For ratatouille, we want most of our vegetables on the thicker side. For carrots, we'll opt for a large dice or faux tourné. For our mushrooms, we large slices. Incidentally, to maximize the flavor of the mushrooms, instead of cutting them, you may choose to rip them. Bell peppers are best with a large dice. Onion woks well either with a large dice or 1/4" thick slices. For your garlic, we like large pieces in a rough chop. Finally, tomatoes have the most optionality. If you choose to work with grape tomatoes, there is no need to skin them. If using canned tomatoes, opt for skinned tomatoes. Many recipes disagree here when it comes to rough chopped or pureed. Either way works brilliantly.
Safety Tip: Remember for safety to avoid cutting items that can roll on your board. This means cutting most items in half lengthwise.
3. Heat up your non-stick pot or dutch oven.
Heat up a large non-stick skillet or non-stick pot on medium-low heat for about 2 minutes, until warm.
4. Add fat.
This author's personal favorite is coconut oil. Olive oil is more traditional. Coat the pot with about 1/4 cup. Heat for about 1 minute and reduce to low heat.
5. Add onions and carrots to your pot.
Add onions and carrots to the pot. Heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent.
6. Add garlic.
Add half the garlic you cut, and heat for about 1 minute until fragrant.
7. Add tomato paste.
If you'd like, add a tablespoon of tomato paste.
8. Add remaining vegetables.
Add zucchini, squash, eggplant, mushrooms. Cover and heat on low for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence.
Note: This is a soupy ratatouille. This is why we are adding the high moisture vegetables now. If you'd like to achieve a crispy ratatouille, you would heat these vegetables over oil before adding onions and carrots. This method takes meaningfully longer because it is important not to overcrowd the pot.
9. Add the spinach, tomatoes & garlic.
Add spinach, tomatoes, and garlic. If you'd like to sweeten, you can sprinkle in a bit of sugar. Cover and heat for another 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
10. Add bone broth.
Optional: Add 4 oz. of bone broth. Stir. Remove the lid. Continue to simmer.
Add the remaining 4 oz. Heat for another 10-30 minutes on low heat, until you've achieved desired consistency.
Let cool. Ratatouille is best served cold.
Thats all there is to it. This soupy ratatouille makes a great side, goes well with animal proteins, and is delightful over bread, rice, and pasta. As always, if you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Customer Reviews
We bought 2 chef's knives for a couple of our customers as an end of project gift. It was awesome to find such high quality knives, they look and feel amazing. David the owner of Artisan Revere was very helpful and even helped us get the customers names engraved on the leather sheath and knife.
The Artisan Revere chefs knife cuts with ease, is super well balanced, and keeps a sharp edge for longer than any of my Wustofs or other European knives. The edge is perfect and the knife is dulled in the exact areas where your fingers might be exposed. The leather sheath is a more plus for protecting the knife. The materials are top notch and are lightweight allowing for fast and easy cutting. You simply are less tired after using this knife compared with others.
Being somewhat of a knife geek, I have a multitude of knives, including ten chef's knives and Santukos of German, Japanese, and American steels in both German and Japanese knives. I researched this and other premium American made blades before purchasing this knife, mainly based on steel technology, but also its light weight. I also appreciated a 1:1 conversation with David to discuss the technology and craftsmanship before I ordered. After using this knife for six months, it is now my favorite knife for most all tasks that don't involve cutting foods that are prone to sticking to the blade, e.g., potatoes, (Glestain specialty Santuko for that unique task), or butternut squash, bones, etc. (Henckles and a rubber mallet for that).
It excels at precision cuts, like brunoise cut veggies, and prepping meat and fish. It is as light as the best custom Japanese knives I have, but sharper and better balanced. It is very well made. It maintains an edge significantly better than any other knife I own. In fact, I haven't sharpened it once in six months and it's still a razor. Its blade and handle geometry is superb. It fits my hand perfectly.
My guests may be impressed by some of the beautiful Japanese knives I have displayed in the block, but this is the one I use all the time and appreciate the most. I keep it in its handsome sheath in my drawer away from curious guests who might otherwise cut themselves, or god forbid, drop it. Well worth the money!
This is the ultimate knife. You will never need to buy another knife in your lifetime. A one-time forever purchase. Nothing even remotely comparable out there.
I'm having so much fun getting acclimated to my new knife. Immediately noticeable was how light it was in comparison to my current daily driver. This translates into a wonderful nimble-ness when in use, feeling very much like a natural extension of my intent as I cut rather than a tool for which I need to plan each movement. The details are beautifully considered, and I was pleasantly surprised by both the rounded spine and the very useful point at the heel. I'm so glad I finally treated myself to this knife!!
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