"Ratatouille" is ... Step-by-step culinary recipe

How to cook Ratatouille, and what is it? The answers to these culinary and other questions concerning the mentioned dish will be presented in the materials of this article.

general information

Dish Ratatouille - what is it? According to the experts, this name is of French origin. It consists of two parts: rata and touiller, which in translation means "food" and "disturb".

"Ratatouille" is a vegetable dish of Provencal cuisine (traditional), which consists of Bulgarian pepper, zucchini and eggplant. Some cooks say that such a dinner is much like a Hungarian lecho.

History of origin

"Ratatouille" is a dish, the mention of which was first discovered in the cookbook of 1778 issue. Experienced cooks say that this unusual dish was originally prepared by poor peasants in the area of modern Nice. They made it in the summer season from fresh vegetables.

Ratatouille is a French dish. Its original recipe included tomatoes, zucchini, onions, peppers and garlic. As for the modern version, then for its creation, they also use eggplants, and sometimes also patissons.

Features

"Ratatouille" is a Provencal dish, which very much resembles the traditional Russian vegetable stew. This is partly true. However, such a dish is made somewhat differently. Vegetables for this dinner are cut into cubes rather than cubes. In this case, they are laid out in a spiral.

To give this dinner a special flavor and taste, French spices, or rather Provence herbs (including fennel, truffles, caraway seeds, rosemary, mint and basil) are added to it. Thanks to such spices, any dish of Provencal cuisine can be transformed beyond recognition.

Analogues

The dish "Ratatouille", the recipe of which will be considered further, is prepared not only in France, but also in other countries. As a rule, such a dish in other states has a different name. For example, in the Italian cuisine this peculiar vegetable stew is called "Caponata", in Turkish - "Imam Bayaldi", in Spanish - "Pisto", in Hungarian - "Lecho", and in Catalan - "Samfayna".

It should also be noted that even if all of the above dishes are prepared from the same ingredients, they can have noticeable taste differences. This is due to the fact that the variety of vegetables used, the herbs, spices and spices used, as well as the technology of creating vegetable food, play a major role in the preparation of this dinner.

"Ratatouille": recipes (how to cook)

Very many mistresses are afraid to start making such a dish, because they consider it difficult and expensive. But this is not so. The food in question is prepared quite easily. Moreover, for its creation only simple components that are available to everyone are required.

As mentioned above, in the original version of "Ratatouille" was prepared from tomatoes, zucchini, sweet peppers, garlic and onions. Today, the dish began to add eggplants and patissons.

It should also be noted that a ready meal can be served to the table in hot and cold form, as well as at room temperature. Often it is used as an independent dish. Although sometimes the housewives present it as a side dish to the meat. Also "Ratatouille" can serve as an excellent snack, if it is used with crackers or bread.

So how should you do Ratatouille? A step-by-step culinary recipe provides for the use of:

• Bulgarian pepper yellow and red color - 2 medium pcs .;
• Vegetable oils (it is better to take olive oil) - 5 large spoons;
• Garlic fresh large - 2 lobules;
• Large onion bulbs - 1 pc .;
• Tomatoes in their own juice - about 300 g;
• Thyme (in twigs) - 3 pcs .;
• Parsley fresh - according to your taste;
• Bay leaves - 1 pc .;
• Zucchini green fresh - 1 piece;
• Eggplant of a young not very large - 1 piece;
• Small patisson - 1 pc .;
• Fresh tomatoes - 5 pcs .;
• Salt, pepper - to your liking.

Pretreatment of vegetables

Before you prepare a delicious French dish, you should process all the necessary ingredients.

Eggplants, patisson and zucchini are thoroughly washed in a hot form. At this their tails and navels are immediately cut off, and the peel is left. Next, all the vegetables are shredded in the form of thin circles. By the way, to get the most delicious and delicate dishes, these ingredients are taken only in fresh and young form.

The Bulgarian pepper is also processed separately. It is thoroughly washed, cut in half and the seeds removed. Next, pepper shred slices. As for fresh tomatoes, they are cut into thin slices. In this case, the peel is necessarily left.

Preparation of products

Form "Ratatouille" preferably in a deep form (heat resistant), designed for the oven. Its bottom is completely covered with baking paper. Next, the lobes of Bulgarian pepper are laid down on the parchment. In this form, the dishes are sent to the oven, heated to 220 degrees. After 20 minutes, take the pepper. After that, carefully peel off the skin and carefully cut it.

Pour into a cast-iron frying pan a few spoons of oil, it is well heated. Further on it is thrown onions, cut into small cubes, as well as garlic slices passed through the press. In this form, the ingredients are fried over low heat for about 8 minutes. After a while, crushed tomatoes are added to them in their own juice (that is, canned), their brine, two sprigs of thyme, a bay leaf and a tablespoon of chopped parsley.

After laying out all the ingredients, they are stewed on medium-slow fire for about 10 minutes. After that, finely chopped Bulgarian pepper is added to them. After a couple of minutes, the laurel leaves and thyme are removed from the practically prepared sauce. At the same time, 2 large spoons of vegetable mass are laid out in a bowl, and the rest is removed from the fire.

The formation process

How to properly form Ratatouille? To begin with, you should take a wide, high-temperature mold with high sides, into which you must put the whole cooked sauce. Then it is necessary to lay out all the pre-chopped vegetables. At the same time fresh tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini and patisson are required to be placed in a bowl in a circle, overlapping. For beauty and unusual appearance different colors of vegetables should be alternated.

After all the ingredients have been laid out, they sprinkle with the remaining chopped garlic, add a leaf of thyme and butter. At the very end of the dish with vegetables completely covered with cooking foil. This is necessary for the dish to be well prepared and not covered with a burnt crust.

Heat treatment in an oven

To bake a French dish, the temperature of the oven should be reduced to 135 degrees. Put in a mold with vegetables in a warm cabinet, they are cooked for two hours. After this time, the foil is removed. In this form, "Ratatouille" is prepared for another 30 minutes.

In the event that too much liquid is formed in the process of heat treatment in a dish with a dish, it is gently drained.

The process of decorating the dinner and its correct serving to the table

To decorate such a French dish, the previously left vegetable sauce is mixed with salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The resulting mixture is beautifully poured on a plate, or rather by its side parts. As for the center of the dish, the "Ratatouille" is neatly laid on it. In this case, ensure that the vegetable layers remain in the form in which they are baked.