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becoming madame, cooking, food, France, french cuisine, Life in Paris, ratatouille, recipe, traditional french ratatouille
On a cold, blustery winter’s evening there is nothing better than a bowl of something warm and hearty to stick to your bones. Ratatouille is perfect for such occasions!
This traditional French recipe came to me by way of my belle-famille and is a family recipe dating back over a hundred years. It is, in other words, tried, tested and approved!
The day I made this video was a dismal December evening. The Parisian winds were howling outside our windows. It was a quintessential Ratatouille day. Today, as I write this, Paris is gorgeous, skies like a pale sapphire, the sunny is shining in all the windows. I think I’ll keep mine in the freezer in anticipation of more winter weather to come.
The recipe is simple, relatively light on labor and delicious. Once you’ve cut all your vegetables up, there’s nothing left but to sauté them in butter on low heat, adding one at a time starting with the garlic and onions, then the peppers, the zucchini, the eggplant and finally the tomatoes. After 10 minutes of cooking the veggies all together, add your seasoning. Let cook for another 20-30 minutes (30-40 minutes in total).
Ratatouille is an excellent side dish for almost all meats. The French often rotate Ratatouille and green beans as their vegetables of choice. It is also an excellent beginning to a tomato-based pasta sauce if you have some leftovers. And it freezes marvelously. In fact, this recipe gets better the more times you warm it up! My mom, a vegetarian, uses this recipe as a full meal with a side of rice.
Wine choice: Faugères or Côtes-du-Roussillon from the Languedoc (Southern France)
Recipe:
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 large cooking onion
- 1 red pepper
- 1 green pepper
- 2 zucchini
- 1 large eggplant
- 1/8 cup butter (or 2-3 tablespoons olive oil as a substitute)
- 2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
- 1 tsp Herbe de Provences
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tbsp Oregano
- 1/2 tbsp Paprika doux
Cut up each vegetable in small sections and add one at a time to melted butter in large pot on low heat. Let each vegetable reduce before adding in the next. After cooking all together for 10 minutes, add seasoning and let cook on low heat for 20 more minutes. You cannot cook this too long, but make sure you stir occasionally so that it does not burn at the bottom. It only gets better the longer it simmers.
It is the very best if you make it the day before you want to serve it. The flavors intensify with time.
Bon Appétit!!
Judy said:
I’ve always read about Ratatouilles, but never made one! You make it sound easier than I thought! Thank you for that! 😉
jenny@atasteoftravel said:
Simple and stunning…….so french!
Theadora Brack said:
Another family recipe! Another gift. Thank you! I’ll take a stab at preparing this on Sunday. I’ll report back.
lvaletutto said:
Sounds delicious! I will have to try this version out very soon!
Veronique Savoye said:
Ah, Ratatouille. To think that here, in the US, most people think it is just an [animated] rat! Thank you for sharing your belle-famille’s recipe. I will be making some ratatouille myself very soon, since Seattle has been having some Ratatouille-worthy weather as of late. I see you recommend Faugères as a pairing wine. My dad’s favorite 😉 Bon weekend! Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
omgyummy said:
Thanks for stopping by my blog! What a neat find this is and to see you writing about a 100 yr old recipe on my first read. I love preserving old traditions and creating new ones. This is so simple and classic but in the technique creates such wonderful flavors. I have to pack my son vegetarian lunches and this would be so great to have in the house to add to a sandwich or noodles or all on its own!
mimo khair said:
This sounds delicious! thanks for sharing!
violetsandcardamom said:
I have always been intrigued by ratatouille but have never made it. So glad to try it out using a recipe with so much history! 🙂
SarahAlice said:
I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award, which I hope you’ll accept and enjoy! The rules can be found on my page. Congratulations! (:
I always enjoy looking through your blog, and it’s particularly insightful for those who like to travel. And love the idea of a romantic kind of Paris.
Have a lovely day!
(:
Becoming Madame said:
Thank you so much! Very kind of you to think of us! https://becomingmadame.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/touched-and-grateful-the-versatile-blogger-nomination/
lightbox3d said:
Love it! Now if only I could make a good Bouillabaisse!
Iris said:
Thanks for liking my post and following my blog! The recipe you mention in this post sounds delicious and I’m definitely gonna try it sometime. I wanted to let you know that I also started a new blog in which you might be interested: http://thenakedbody.wordpress.com. It’s about all the things that people do to adorn their bodies, so a little bit about wellness and clothes and stuff. Hope you like it, and if you do, please spread the word! Thanks, and I hope to read more of your blog.
Kat said:
We have a small vegetable garden in which I plant the necessary ingredients for ratatouille. We eat it all summer long. A simple and delicious dish. Thanks for sharing your family recipe.
foreverpaper said:
I’ve wanted to try ratatoullie for a while now… I’ll definitely have to now that I know it’s so simple. The only reason I haven’t tried it yet is simply that I’m not fond of tomatoes, which I thought was one of the main ingredients. Maybe other ratatoullie recipes contain them… not sure. I haven’t had much time to investigate, so this is definitely a step in the right direction. Thanks for the recipe. ^_^
Rachel @ suitsandaprons.wordpress.com said:
Just made this, and it is wonderful! Also, I think you left tomatoes out of the typed ingredients list (though it’s included in the youtube video). I love love love your blog!
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Angela said:
Looking forward to cooler weather so I can try your recipe — thanks for sharing! 🙂
Anastasia H. said:
Hello,
I hope all is well with you. I made this tonight, and my husband went crazy for it!!! It was the first time I’ve had this recipe, and I’m glad I used your directions.
Thanks again!
Anastasia
Sandra D. said:
I make the recipe with red, yellow and orange peppers instead of green peppers and use olive oil instead of butter to sauté the vegetables. I also add mushrooms because I love mushrooms! I don’t cook much, but this is easy to make. I love this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing on You Tube; it’s easier when watching someone actually doing the steps.
cathleen said:
I made this for dinner and even the kids loved it!!! One daughter cut veggies and one got to add veggies and stir!!! What a fantastic recipe to get the children into the kitchen cooking:-)