Ratatouille Ratatouille

Ratatouille

  • 1 hour preparation time
  • 1 hour 30 mins cooking time
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The colours! The pattern! The flavours! This, cook, is your symphony of traditional flavours and bright colours paired in a timeless, easy buttery ratatouille recipe. Revel in its richness of seasonal vegetables and hearty tomato sauce flavoured with herbs and garlic. A rustic and simple niche of French cuisine.
The colours! The pattern! The flavours! This, cook, is your symphony of traditional flavours and bright colours paired in a timeless, easy buttery ratatouille recipe. Revel in its richness of seasonal vegetables and hearty tomato sauce flavoured with herbs and garlic. A rustic and simple niche of French cuisine.

Method

1
Start by making the tomato sauce. Chop the onion and garlic and sauté in butter in a saucepan with thyme. Add tomato puree and mix well, then add the canned tomato and honey, and mix well. Lower the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2
While the sauce is simmering, prepare the vegetables. Peel red onions and cut all vegetables into disc shaped slices of about half a centimetre.
3
Preheat the oven to 200C fan/gas mark 6.
4
Pour the tomato sauce into an oven-proof pan about 30 centimetres in diameter and place the sliced vegetables in a spiral circle pattern, starting at the outer edge, and working your way into the middle. Make sure to alternate the vegetables and that the slices overlap.
5
Brush the top with melted butter, then sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped thyme. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
6
Serve right away topped with fresh basil.

Questions about ratatouille

Curious to know more about this popular French dish? Then continue reading some of the most frequently asked questions about ratatouille.

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Serve traditional butter ratatouille with fresh, flavourful ingredients

Traditional recipes are timeless, and that is for a reason. They endure through time because they offer comfort in all their simplicity and universality. And our traditional butter ratatouille recipe is no different. It carries traditions from one generation to the next. Using any in-season vegetables or maybe even the cook's favourite vegetables, it associates every family and cook with fond memories and nostalgia of family dinners.

The trick, as always, cook, is to use the freshest ingredients to get most flavour. Fresh vegetables will hold their shape better, infuse the dish with a maximum delicious flavour, and bring the brightest of colours. They will create a dish bursting with flavours, colours, and, of course, a delicious texture of thinly sliced, perfectly cooked, fresh vegetables and smooth velvety tomato sauce.

Greatness comes with butter in even the simplest of recipes

Ratatouille is widely associated with the countryside and farmer's cuisine because of its roots in the countryside regions of Southern France with their rustic charm and fresh, seasonal produce. But the most simple and rustic recipe rooted in farmers’ traditions is made even greater with the addition of another simple yet delicious ingredient: butter. Butter ratatouille is the perfect example of creating greatness from a few simple ingredients, taking an easy dish with few ingredients and making it so much more. Brush with melted butter, bake, and watch the butter transform the dish into something special.

Layered in bright colours on a bed of vibrant red, savoury tomato sauce, and brushed with butter, this butter ratatouille recipe is a testament to a timeless classic known for delicious flavours wrapped in heartwarming simplicity.

Savoury vegetable ratatouille with butter and tomato sauce

Our butter ratatouille has everything you need for dinner. It is savoury, filled with colourful vegetables, and baked in homemade tomato sauce with herbs, onion, and garlic. Each vegetable adds something extra, something filled with flavour, giving you a balanced and complex dish. By brushing with melted butter before baking, you add a shiny touch as well as extra flavour, and it keeps the dish warm, giving you a ratatouille with butter that is better than what you might have tasted before. And with its colours and different flavours, especially from the classic tomato sauce, it will be a hit with the whole family.

How to serve ratatouille for dinner

The easy way to serve this French classic is as a standalone dish. It is more than capable of carrying a meal by itself with its savoury tomato sauce and various vegetables. If you prefer something on the side, you can serve it with crusty bread, for example, wholemeal bread or sourdough bread, both carrying a lot of flavour and texture. Or you can serve it on top of rice or pasta or with grilled meat or fish on the side. Everything that will benefit from a tasty, buttery, tomato-infused layer of goodness will be delicious with this ratatouille recipe.

Why not serve the butter ratatouille with our buttery pan-fried sea bass. It is a classic pairing, the natural sweetness of the fish harmoniously matches the savoury ratatouille, especially its tomato sauce. Here is another idea: serve it on top of pasta. Try our sage and butter pasta that will create the perfect base. Top the pasta dish with a generous serving of ratatouille, letting the tomato sauce and savoury vegetables soak into the pasta's butter and parmesan cheese base.

Add your own touch to this traditional French dish

As delicious as it is in its simplicity, you can always shake things up and do something new with our recipe for ratatouille. You can consider adding other vegetables such as sliced mushrooms for a touch of umami flavour, spinach for a touch of green, and even, for a sweet touch, thinly sliced sweet potato.

Chickpeas or white beans are also delicious mixed with tomato sauce. And, for a bit of heat, consider adding fresh or dried chilli, smoked paprika or red pepper flakes. To balance it out and add a salty touch, crumble some feta cheese, salad cheese, or goat cheese on top before baking.

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Lurpak® Slightly Salted Butter

Slightly Salted Butter

With Lurpak® by your side you’re always ready to cook, bake and fry up wonders, cook. With its delicate taste, Lurpak® Slightly Salted Butter enhances the flavour of whatever food you add it to. From a hearty pasta dish, your showstopper fruit pie, to some simple rustic crushed potatoes, its subtle notes complement every creation you rustle up in the kitchen. For people who love Good Food, Lurpak® makes it even better. Now sleeves up. Today we cook bold.

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