Oven-roasted Ratatouille

30 minutes - 40 minutes

Serves 4. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see questions Lindsey has answered on this recipe

Vegetarian

This recipe is from Delia's Vegetarian Collection.

This ratatouille recipe is from Delia's Vegetarian Collection book and is the basis of the related recipe below, Oven-roasted Ratatouille and Mozzarella Strudel with Parmesan and Pecans

The Delia Online Cookery School: Watch how to prepare peppers and chillies in our video on this page.

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To salt or not to salt!

Asked by: Simon01

I made Delia's oven-roasted ratatouille last night (delicious) but I did not have time to prepare the courgettes and aubergine ahead of time as recommended. I must say it did not appear to affect the end recipe. Is this really still necessary? Thank you. Eileen

Answered by Lindsey: Hello Eileen, I’d say not always depending on the aubergines and courgettes. I expect most varieties are fine nowadays. I decide when I slice them. If they have an open texture or look seedy I degorge them. If they are very firm and hardly any visible sees I don’t usually bother. Kind regards Lindsey

Method

Prepare the courgettes and aubergine ahead of time by cutting them into 1 in (2.5 cm) dice, leaving the skins on.

Now place them in a colander and mix them with one rounded dessertspoon of salt. Then place a plate on top of them and weigh it down with a heavy weight, making sure you have a plate underneath the colander to catch the drips. Leave them like this for an hour so that any bitter juices can drain out. Meanwhile, pour boiling water over the tomatoes, leave them for one minute exactly, then drain, slip the skins off and quarter the flesh. You can also watch how to do this in our Cookery School Video on this page

When the aubergines and courgettes have drained, squeeze out any excess juice, then dry them thoroughly in a clean cloth. Pre-heat the oven to its highest setting. Now arrange the tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, peppers and onion on the roasting tray, sprinkle with the garlic, torn-up basil leaves, crushed coriander seeds and pepper. Drizzle the oil over, then mix thoroughly to get a good coating of oil. Roast on the highest shelf of the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and tinged brown at the edges.

Serve straight away.