Ratatouille Pasta is flavor-packed and delicious! It is bursting with late summer veg, perfect for a vegetarian midweek meal. The vegetables are roasted until tender and combined to make the richest and most intense pasta sauce. There is so much flavor in every mouthful of this French/Italian dish. Serve it with some crusty bread for a delicious vegetarian main, or add a steak or grilled lamb chop and use this pasta as a veggie side dish.
2bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow)(see note 6)
2zucchinis(see note 7)
4tablespoonextra virgin olive oildivided
¾teaspoonsaltdivided (cooking/kosher)
For the pasta
1lbpasta(see note 8)
1tablespoonsalt
Optional garnish
fresh basil leaves
grated parmesan
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425ºF/220ºC.
While the oven is heating up, start the sauce.
Peel and chop the onions into large chunks (½-¾ inch square)2 onions
Peel and thinly slice the garlic cloves.3 cloves garlic
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and the salt. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the onion is soft with a hint of golden on the edges.3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil½ tsp salt
Add the sliced garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Then pour in the wine. Stir well to remove any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan and cook for a minute.¼ cup/ 60ml wine
Add the canned tomatoes, broth, thyme, black pepper, and sugar. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer gently.1 can/ 900g chopped tomatoes (28oz/800g can)½ cup vegetable broth1 tsp fresh thyme leaves¼ tsp black pepper½ tsp sugar
Prepare the veg
Cut the eggplant and zucchinis into ½ inch chunks and cut the bell peppers ¾ inch squares.1 eggplant2 bell peppers (red, orange, or yellow)2 zucchinis
Toss the diced eggplant with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and ¼ teaspoon of salt, then arrange on a large, rimmed baking sheet in a single layer.
Toss the bell pepper and zucchini with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and ½ teaspoon salt and arrange on a large, rimmed baking tray in a single layer.
Place the baking sheets in the oven with the zucchini and bell pepper tray on the top shelf and the eggplant on the middle shelf.
Cook for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, remove the baking trays and stir the vegetables making sure they stay in a single layer.
Return the veg to the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
While the veg are cooking place a large pan of water on to boil ready for the pasta.
Remove the veg from the oven and transfer the vegetables into the tomato sauce.
Simmer the sauce on the lowest setting while you cook your pasta.
Cooking the pasta
Add the salt to the boiling water and cook the pasta as per the packet instructions.1 lb pasta1 tbsp salt
Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water and drain the pasta.
Finishing the dish
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to combine. Add pasta cooking water to thin the sauce to your desired consistency.
Then stir in the fresh basil and check the seasoning.2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
Serve garnished with basil and parmesan if desired.
Notes
You can use any onion you have to hand. White, brown, or red onions will all work.
Use red or white wine. If you don't consume alcohol or don't have wine to hand, then you can replace it with extra broth.
If you are using dried thyme, then only use ½ teaspoon.
Fresh basil is perfect for this sauce.
You want a firm, medium-sized eggplant, roughly 1lb/450g
Use large bell peppers. You can mix and match the colors to suit what you have. Avoid green as they aren't sweet enough and can affect the final dish.
Use firm zucchinis, weighing around 8oz/220g each.
You can use any pasta shape you like. Long pasta works well. Or pick a filled pasta like cheese ravioli.