Today, I added a hearty serving of red potatoes and a layer of béchamel to traditional ratatouille to make it a hearty winter dinner. Serve it over pasta, or steamed rice and enjoy a meatless Monday. Or serve as-is with a side of chicken and a slice of bread to scoop amazing slow-cooked tomato and cream sauce. If you to loved Ratatouille Movie, you will love making this casserole at home! If you have not, I highly recommend watching it! I promise Ratatouille will make you fall in love with joy of cooking!
Ingredients for Ratatouille:
- One to two Cup Tomato Sauce (good
- quality tomato basil sauce)
- Two Garlic (cloves, minced)
- 3-4 Thyme (sprigs)
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- Half tsp Chili Flakes
- A egg Plant Or Brinjal (thin eggplant, thin sliced)
- A yellow Squash (thin sliced)
- 1 Zucchini (thin sliced)
- 1 Red Bell Pepper (thin sliced)
- 2-3 Potatoes (medium size, thin sliced)
- Salt and Black Pepper
- Oil Spray
Béchamel Sauce:
- One tbsp Unsalted Butter
- One tbsp All-Purpose Flour
- A Cup Milk (2% or whole milk)
- 1/8 tsp Nutmeg
Method:
1. Preheat oven and Prepare Ratatouille Ingredients: Preheat oven at 375 degree Fahrenheit. Bring 2 cups of water to rolling boil. Season with salt. Slice red potatoes. Drop in water and boil for 3-4 minutes or until par cooked. Drain on a paper towel and set aside. While potatoes cook and cool down, slice rest of veggies – squash, bell pepper and eggplant.
2. Make Béchamel Το make Béchamel Microwave 1 cup of milk in microwave safe container. Set aside. Heat 1 tbsp butter in sauce pan. Add 1 tbsp flour and cook until raw flavor of flour goes away. 1-2 minutes. Don’t let flour turn brown. Add warm milk 1/4 cup at time and stir well to avoid lumps. Add all of milk and continue coking until sauce thickens and coat back of a spoon. Season with salt, nutmeg, and black pepper. Set aside.
3. Layer Sauce: Spray baking dish with cooking spray. Spread layer of tomato sauce, minced garlic, thyme, red chili flakes, salt and olive oil. Mix well while still leaving well spread. Drizzle béchamel sauce on the top, swirl into the tomato sauce.
4. Layer Ratatouille Vegetables: Layer sliced veggies on top. I like to make a spiral stack of vegetable slices for presentation just like ratatouille. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle salt, thyme, and black pepper on top.
Additional Notes:
For quick layering, pick slices of each veggie, make a small stack in hand, and then stack into the casserole. This saves time instead of arranging one slice at a time.
5. Bake Ratatouille: Cover with parchment paper. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until all veggies are tender. You will see tomato sauce bubbling on the sides.
6. Serve: Let it cool for 5 minutes. Serve with side of crusty bread to scoop the sauce. Enjoy!