Roasted ratatouille recipe

Roasted ratatouille in a big red bowl.

Basically there are three ways to make ratatouille. You can: 1) cut up the vegetables, put them in a pot, and stew them on the stovetop (or in a crock-pot). You can: 2) cut up the vegetables, put them in a covered casserole, and bake them in the oven for a couple of hours. Or, you can: 3) cut up the vegetables, roast them in the oven, then stir them into a bowl to cool.

I’m a roaster. I like the way roasting concentrates the flavors of the vegetables. I like the way the high heat of roasting adds golden color and sweet flavor to the ratatouille. And I like the way roasted vegetables hold their shape and texture.

It’s a personal thing.

And now that the basic ingredients of ratatouille are abundant at local farmers' markets, specialty produce stores, and local supermarkets, it’s a good time to deal this rustic favorite into your menu rotation.

Classic ingredients include eggplant, onions, sweet peppers, garlic and tomatoes. But ratatouille is an expressive dish, so if you like (or hate) summer squash, mushrooms or something else, by all means add or substitute at will; food is art.

At right: roasted ratatouille with polenta.

NOTES: Cherry tomatoes, halved, work especially well in ratatouille. Slicing onions into 1/2-inch slabs, roasting them, and then chopping them into smaller pieces, can make the onions easier to manage for this dish. Make sure that vegetables that take longer to cook, such as carrots, are cut into small enough pieces so that they’ll finish at the same time as the vegetables that cook more quickly.

Roasted Ratatouille
serves 4-6

• 10 cups assorted fresh vegetables cut into 1/2-inch dice: eggplant, sweet peppers, onions, tomatoes, summer squash, mushrooms, carrots.
• 3 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1/3-cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Salt and pepper
• Optional: red pepper flakes and herbs, such as thyme, oregano or basil.

1. Heat the oven to 375F.
2. Oil two 10x15-inch jell-roll pans.
3. Whisk the olive oil, tomato paste and grated garlic together in a large bowl.
4. Gently stir the vegetables into the olive oil mixture, coating them thoroughly.
5. Spread the coated vegetables onto the jellyroll pans in a single layer. It doesn’t matter if they’re crowded; they’ll shrink as they cook.
6. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn the vegetables with a spatula, and bake 15 minutes more. You don’t have to be too fussy about turning the vegetables; just make sure you’ve flipped most of them over so that at least two sides brown.
7. Gently spoon the vegetables into a serving bowl, and allow them to cool to room temperature. As they cool, the vegetables will release some of their juices into a rich, concentrated sauce, so give them a stir before serving so that the juices are distributed throughout the ratatouille.