Whew... what a tongue twister!
But don't let that put you off, this Roasted Ratatouille Ragu is the perfect mash-up of the classic comfort food dishes of France and Italy. It'll warm you up and fill your belly with late summer vegetable goodness!
Plus, it's vegan and gluten-free!
As with many mash-ups, I had to take some liberties with the vocabulary. The terms "ratatouille" and "ragu" are both used rather loosely here.
*A traditional Italian ragu is a meat-based stew from Bologna.
*A traditional French ratatouille is actually a peasant stew from Nice that has found quite a fancy rebirth, especially since the seriously adorable Disney movie about a mouse who could cook named Ratatouille (le duh).
But here's the deal: we're skipping the meat and replacing it with hearty late summer veggies. And we're skipping the whole "stew" situation and opting for a quick roast instead.
I promise, it's worth every bit of the irreverence.
First, we'll drain the eggplant to help it release some of its bitterness. Then we'll briefly roast the vegetables while we're cooking the pasta and building the tomato sauce base. With a mash-up of the Italian herbs and some French flavors, the veggies and tomato sauce will sing!
This Roasted Ratatouille Ragu is super easy and seriously delicious. If you don't need a whole pound of pasta today, try making the whole batch and freezing half of it for a delicious future weeknight dinner! This sauce will last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator and up to 1 month in the freezer.
Roasted Ratatouille Ragu
Ingredients
- 16 oz. chickpea or whole wheat pasta
- 24 oz. tomato sauce
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 medium eggplant
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 medium yellow squash
- 1 medium onion
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425° F.
- Dice eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes and place in a colander in the sink and add the eggplant. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoon kosher salt and let sit for 15-20 minutes. This encourages the eggplant to sweat—pulling out some of the bitterness. After, rinse the eggplant and let it dry thoroughly.
- Meanwhile, dice the zucchini, onion and tomato into 1/2-inch cubes and place it onto a baking sheet.
- Once the eggplant is drained and dry, add it to the sheet pan with a drizzle of 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Roast in oven for 30 minutes.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch of salt. Cook pasta for 8-9 minutes.
- Heat a large saute pan over medium heat, add the remaining two tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add in the crushed garlic cloves and crushed red pepper flakes. Let cook for 2 minutes until garlic starts to brown.
- Pour in the tomato sauce, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and thyme. Stir in the roasted vegetables and let cook for 5 minutes.
- Toss in the cooked pasta and stir to coat. Cook for another 5 minutes to let flavors meld, then serve!
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