Best Ratatouille Recipe
A ratatouille with tons of flavor! Roasted garlic sauce is covered in paper-thin spiced vegetables. This would be perfect for an impressive summer dinner or appetizer!
Servings: 4 Servings
Calories: 348kcal
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup cream
- 1 teaspoon white wine
- 1/4 onion chopped
- 1 package Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning packet not made, divided
- 1/4 cup Parmesan fresh
- thyme fresh, optional
- 1 long red bell pepper
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 large yellow squash
- 1 eggplant *
- Parmesan grated, to garnish
- 4 ounces goat cheese softened, for spreading
- French bread crusty
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Use a sharp knife to cut off the top of the head of garlic so that the inner flesh is revealed. Remove the papery layers on the outside that come off easily (don't take them all off though, you want the head to remain intact.)
- Place the head of garlic on a square of aluminum foil and drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic, place on a baking sheet, and roast for about 25 minutes.
- When cool enough to handle, squeeze the soft cloves of garlic into a small saucepan. Mash with a fork. Turn the heat to medium and add cream, wine, onion, and 1 tablespoon of the dip package. When is starts to bubble slightly, add the Parmesan. Stir until the mixture thickens slightly. Add fresh thyme to taste, if you want.
- Pour the sauce into a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Set aside.
- Use a sharp knife to cut out the top of the red bell pepper. Remove as much of the core as you can, leaving the pepper in it's original shape. Use a sharp knife or mandoline to slice the pepper into rings.
- Use a mandoline or a very sharp knife to slice the zucchini, squash, and eggplant.*
- Layer the vegetables in the skillet with the sauce. Start on the outside edge. Layer them in whatever order you want, I did eggplant, zucchini, squash, then pepper. Continue layering until you run out of vegetables.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Sprinkle the remainder of the ranch packet over the vegetables. You don't have to use all of it.
- Cut out a circle of parchment paper that is about the size of your skillet and lay it on top of the vegetables. This keeps it from getting brown and dried out.
- Bake at 375 for about 38-40 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- Toast a slice of bread, spread it with goat cheese, and spoon some of the ratatouille on top. Enjoy!
Notes
*My grocery store sells Italian eggplants, which are long and skinny. They are perfect for ratatouille. If you can't find one, buy a regular eggplant, half or quarter it lengthwise, then slice thin.
You can do a make-ahead version of this if you want. Make the sauce, store covered in the fridge. Slice all the veggies except the eggplant (it will get brown) and store in ziplocks or tupperware in the fridge. You can do this 2 days in advance. Assemble on the day of and bake a usual. Voila!
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 348kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Potassium: 774mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 2568IU | Vitamin C: 80mg | Calcium: 191mg | Iron: 2mg