Ratatouille is a summer, light and extremely tasty dish of French cuisine, which according to the classic recipe is prepared for a long time (at least an hour, and all this time you will need to be in the kitchen and cut, stir and fry something). In this regard, many busy housewives, in order to please the family with culinary diversity, manage to simplify the process using modern technology - microwave and multicooker. Therefore, before preparing the ratatouille, you must either have patience and a sufficient amount of time, or choose a deliberately quick recipe without claims to originality. The ingredients in both cases require almost the same, the difference will only be in the principle of their heat treatment.
How to cook ratatouille
To create this colorful dish in the original, you will need a couple of large eggplants, 4 medium white onions, 7 small zucchini, 2 red and green bell peppers, 70 g of tomato and 3 cans of canned tomatoes in their own juice (without skin), half a glass of chopped fresh herbs (dill and parsley), head of garlic, 400 ml of olive oil, salt to taste, spices (black pepper, dried oregano and basil).
Before preparing ratatouille, you need to wash all the vegetables and chop them. Eggplant - quite large cubes (3-4 cm); zucchini - stripes with a length of 5 cm and a thickness of about 1.5; pepper - in strips of 1.5 cm; onion - arbitrarily, large enough; garlic - finely.
Also, preheat the oven to 200 degrees. On a large baking sheet, spread the foil, pour a glass of oil there and lay out the eggplants, which are salted and cooked until soft. Then they are left to cool.
Meanwhile, the remaining oil is poured into a deep frying pan, frying onion and garlic, and then pepper and zucchini are added. Vegetables should start juice, decrease in volume and begin to brown. This will take about 20 minutes. Pasta and tomatoes, greens and spices are sent there, stirred and stewed for about 10 minutes, then eggplants are transferred to the pan and continue to simmer the same. At the very end, if necessary, you can add salt and seasonings. So it turns out a ratatouille dish. How to cook it, many know, but not every housewife dares to spend so much of her time. And it is usually served in a warm form as a main dish or as a side dish.
How to make ratatouille with grapes
In this version, the dish comes out more refined and piquant. As for the cooking time, it will take even longer than in the previous case. For 4 servings take 4 medium fresh tomatoes, 2 potatoes, 4 small zucchini, as well as bell pepper, onions and carrots (1 each). Still need grapes (white and pink) - in a bunch; olive oil - 50 ml; greens (marjoram, tarragon, celery and parsley); salt and ground pepper.
First clean the vegetables (this is perhaps the most painstaking part of the process). And this is done not only with onions and potatoes, it is also necessary to peel the tomatoes, pouring boiling water over them. Then pepper and tomatoes get rid of seeds. Zucchini, if they are young, can not be cleaned. Peel the apple and remove the middle.
After that, the ingredients are cut. Apple - in 4 parts, zucchini - in rings, the rest - in cubes. Grapes need to be washed and cut off. Then all the components should be transferred to a deep pan, sprinkled with chopped herbs, pour oil and add 100 ml of water, salt and sprinkle with pepper, cover with foil or a lid. Ratatouille is baked for one and a half hours, not stirring, but topping up the water if it all evaporates. Serve hot.
How to cook ratatouille in a slow cooker
This is perhaps the easiest option, since all the ingredients are simply washed, cleaned, cut, placed in a slow cooker, filled with oil, put on the “Baking” mode and enjoy the finished dish after 40 minutes (depending on the composition of the components and the power of the device). Thus, you can cook a dish according to any of the recipes.