Ratatouille Recipe With Melted Cheese

This sweet and delicious ratatouille recipe is the perfect warmer-weather dish to accompany meats, etc. The dish is layered with a rich tomato sauce, then topped with cheesy slices of aubergines, courgettes and tomatoes.

I'm not sure which one I enjoyed first: "Ratatouille" the movie, or eating my first ever ratatouille recipe. Although I suspect it was the film first. And if anyone has watched it and never tried a ratatouille recipe, it's sure to make you curious.

"Ratatouille"'s Remy certainly had a way with presentation. Something my first ever dish almost 10 years ago, didn't have. Mine was rustic, but albeit, so delicious.

Using what I consider to be Mediterranean vegetables, such as courgettes, aubergines and tomatoes is always a winner in my book. You may also love my layered aubergines dish, Melanzane Parmigiana. Aubergines are particularly impressive for soaking up sweet garlicky juices, once their bitter skins have diminished.

How to Make Ratatouille

Firstly, you will find a full printable list of ingredients for my ratatouille recipe towards the bottom of this page. Please note, this is not necessarily a traditional, but more about what flavours I've been inspired by over the years.

For example, making the rich tomato sauce with olive oil, garlic, sage, basil, balsamic vinegar and sweetener is my favourite.

My ratatouille starts by sauteing the onions and garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil for an authentic taste. However, you could of course use cooking oil spray.

After sauteing the onions and garlic, then the next few simple steps. This ratatouille recipe is great for children to help set your veggies in rows.

• Transfer your tomato sauce in a large baking tray - approx A4 sized
• Note: you could use your skillet, but you'd need to halved your veggies
• Slice the aubergines, courgettes and tomatoes
• Now preheat your oven at 200 degrees celcius
• Place them on top of the sauce, thin egdes facing upwards, alternating
• Sprinkle with 60g of mature cheddar cheese, or parmesan if you have it
• Cover with tinfoil and bake for one hour
• Remove from the oven, sprinkle another 45g of cheese on top, season well with extra sea salt and pepper, spray with some cooking oil spray and bake for 20 minutes
• And serve!

What If My Vegetables Aren't the Same Size?

Before trying a sliced variation of my ratatouille recipe, I was concerned it would look a mess due to different sized vegetables. But as long as you make them roughly the same size, you'll be fine.

My tips for a sliced ratatouille recipe are:

• Either try to buy similar sized ones, or:
• Cut your aubergines in half if they're double the size of your courgettes
• The cut side should be facing down
• They don't need to look all perfectly matched - it'll all look similar after cooking and sprinkled with cheese
• I also slice my tomatoes in half as we're half as much, or use double the amount and don't slice in half
• To make life easier, you could try slicing with a mandolin or a food processor - note the latter is harder to control to achieve uniform slices

Will I Be Able to Fit It All in My Baking Dish?

As you alternate your slices, you may feel like you're running out of one particular veg than the other. My suggestion is to no panic and once you've filled your dish, you can always cram in more here and there.

These Mediterranean veggies do have some give, so I'd squeeze in more aubergine slices here and there. If you simply can't, then why not just make some extra tomato sauce and fill another dish? The ratatouille tomato sauce is the easy bit!

What Other Vegetables Could I Use in This Ratatouille Recipe?

If you don't enough aubergines, courgettes or tomatoes, then I recommend simply checking your fridge or harvest to see what you have.

You could bulk up your dish with things like: sliced mushrooms, peppers, onions or even thinly slice carrots or beetroots. If you're really stuck, why not try scalloped potatoes? It may offend purists, but we don't always have the right ingredients to feed a family, so there's no judgement from us.

What Equipment Do I Need for a Sliced Ratatouille Recipe?

• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Weighing scales
• Garlic press
• Large saucepan
• Salt and pepper mill
• Measuring spoons
• Spatula
• Serving spoon

What Can I Eat With a Ratatouille Recipe?

• Cooked meat
• Salmon and horseradish egg fried rice
• Spicy bean burgers
• Chorizo inspired burgers
• Slow cooker pulled pork
• Stuffed turkey burgers
• Chilli con carne
• Tomates Farcies (Stuffed tomatoes)
• Burger in a bowl in place of fries

How to Cook Leftovers

If you have any of this ratatouille recipe leftover, then you could either cheat by heating in the microwave, or oven bake again with tinfoil. I wouldn't bake uncovered, unless it's the last five minutes to prevent charring.

Storing Leftovers

If you're anything like me, I recycle and hoard plastic takeaway containers that tend to be microwaveable safe. And consume within 3 days of being stored in the fridge. You could of course freeze it after cooking, ideally for up to 3 months.

More Recipes You Might Like

• Baked camembert with honey and pesto
• Stuffed artichokes
• Healthier dauphinoise potatoes
• French onion soup (low fat version)
• Beefaroni
• Nicoise salad
• Coq au Vin (Slimmer's version)
• Skinny Croque Monsieur ham and cheese sandwiches
• Pistou soup
• Tomato risotto
• Thin crust pizza recipe

📖 Recipe

Pin my Ratatouille Recipe for Later