This summer vegetable simple Ratatouille is such a versatile dish. Packed full of in-season summer vegetables, we’re celebrating their flavours in this side dish. The vegetables are roasted to bring out the sweetness and depth of flavour, then stirred through with tomatoes to create a fabulous sauce. This is a great way to use your vegetables from the garden. It’ll keep for 2-3 days in the fridge and freezes really well if you need to use up a glut.
A flavoursome French traditional side dish
Ratatouille is a dish that truly comes alive in summer, when courgettes, aubergines, peppers and tomatoes are at their best. Using fresh, seasonal veg makes all the difference – everything tastes sweeter, brighter and more full of flavour. The vegetables are roasted first to deepen their natural sweetness and give the dish that gorgeous, caramelised edge, before adding the tomatoes and gently melding everything together. Serve warm or at room temperature to better appreciate the flavours.
Seasonal simple cooking at its best
It’s simple, rustic cooking that celebrates what’s growing right now. Packed with summertime herbs and sun‑soaked Mediterranean flavours, this ratatouille is delicious spooned over rice or pasta, or served alongside barbecued meat or fish. Light, vibrant and full of depth, it’s the kind of dish that feels effortless but tastes like summer in every bite.
Similar summer recipes
For other recipes, check out the links below:
- Quick raw courgette salad
- Easy Courgette gratin
- Simple baked risotto with courgette and tomato
- Salad of warm vegetables lentils and halloumi
- Tuscan style Panzanella
- Simple cheese and tomato tart
The beauty of ratatouille is that you can use most vegetables that are currently in season. What grows together goes together. You can’t omit the tomatoes, as they provide the sauce to bring it all together, but otherwise the choice is yours.
Summer Vegetable Simple Ratatouille
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 courgettes roughly chopped
- 1 red onion roughly chopped
- 2 red peppers roughly chopped
- 1 aubergine roughly chopped
- 2 garlic cloves sliced thinly
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 400 g tin chopped tomatoes or 500g fresh tomatoes
- 200 ml water
- 10 g fresh oregano chopped
- 10 g fresh parsley chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp sea salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C
- Cut your courgettes, red onions, peppers, and aubergines into chunks of roughly 2cm. Add to a large baking tray, with the 2 cloves of sliced garlic, a teaspoon of dried oregano and some seasoning, and toss in the olive oil to evenly coat all the vegetables.
- Place the baking tray in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, turning the vegetables over halfway through cooking.
- If using fresh tomatoes, skin them by placing them in a heatproof bowl, covering them in boiling water for 90 seconds. Remove the tomatoes from the water, make a slice in the skin and peel it off. The riper the tomatoes, the easier this is.
- Remove your tray of vegetables from the oven and add your tinned tomatoes or freshly skinned tomatoes, along with 200ml water (swirled in the can if using a tin of tomatoes), the chopped fresh herbs, bay leaf, and season again.
- Reduce the oven to 160 °C and place the tray back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.