Roasted Ratatouille

Ratatouille always sounds like such a good idea — especially in late summer and early fall, as zucchini are profuse and prodigious, tomatoes are bursting with flavor and eggplant beckons. The reality can be so disappointing, with watery veg and flavors that whimper. We’ve tried so many recipes, heeded so many approaches. A challenging cooking situation, cooking in a vacation house in France with a very basic kitchen, led us to a solution, and a significant upgrade.

[Read: For the best (and easiest!) ratatouille, capture the fabulous flavor of late summer by roasting those vegetables]

Roasting the eggplant, zucchini and peppers solves the problem, deepening the flavors and letting the vegetables maintain their integrity. As a bonus, there’s less work involved. Think of it as a sheet-pan ratatouille. While we’re at it, we sometimes roast the garlic as well; other times, we want a sharper, fresher garlic bite, so instead of roasting it, we mince it and add it to the onions when they’re nearly done cooking in the pan.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Ingredients

1 medium globe eggplant, about 1 1/4 pound/525 g

2 medium zucchini, about 1 1/4 pound/525 g

3 garlic cloves, still in their jackets

1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided

3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 red bell pepper, halved

1 medium onion, diced

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

1 pound/453 g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

Torn basil, to finish (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment (one of them can be smaller, such as a quarter-sheet pan), and arrange two racks in the oven — one about halfway up and the other above that. Trim the bottom of the eggplant, and use a vegetable peeler to peel off strips of it, leaving alternate strips with the peel still on, zebra-style. Cut it into rounds about 1 1/2 inches/3.5 cm thick. Place the rounds in a large, wide bowl.

2. Trim the ends from the zucchini, and cut them vertically into quarters (if they’re large) or halves (if they’re smaller). Put them in the bowl with the eggplant, along with the unpeeled garlic cloves. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the vegetables, then use your hands to toss them to coat as much as possible. (You might want to sprinkle half the salt and half the oil, turn the vegetables over, add the rest and then toss.) Lay the eggplant slices and zucchini slices on the larger baking sheet. Place the red bell pepper halves cut-side down on the smaller sheet, along with the garlic cloves. Place the larger sheet pan on the lower oven rack and the smaller on on the upper rack, and roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until the eggplant slices are fork-tender and have lost most of their opaqueness, the zucchini are starting to turn golden and the red peppers’ skins have blistered and blackened. Place the pepper halves in a paper bag so the skins loosen as they cool.

3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan, or a shallow, wide braiser over medium heat. Add the onions and the thyme, lower heat to medium-low and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. While the onions cook, cut the eggplants into cubes and slice the zucchini into bite-sized pieces, about 1/2 inch/1.5 cm thick. When the onions are translucent, add the eggplants and zucchini to the pan, along with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Remove the skin from the roasted garlic cloves and add it to the pan. Raise the heat to medium, and cook for about a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and 10 or so grinds of black pepper, and cook until the tomatoes start to break down, about 10 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning and serve — garnished with fresh basil, if desired.