Baked ratatouille is super easy, delicious, and this recipe comes just in time for your summer vegetable harvest. It makes a great whole-food plant-based meal served with wild rice, pasta or polenta. It can also be used as a vegetable side dish. One recipe makes enough to enjoy a dinner and a couple easy lunches on the go. I used a handmade ceramic oven dish, which fills the air with a really nice aroma when baking, but a simple Pyrex will also do the trick.
(Scroll down for printable recipe card, instructional video, and more…)
2 medium zucchini 1 standard eggplant 4 Roma tomatoes 2 cups marinara sauce (or simple tomato sauce) 2 bell peppers (yellow or orange) 1 medium onion 1 tsp. thyme 1 bunch basil Salt and pepper, to taste 2 tbsp. olive oil Parmesan cheese (optional) Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Check out the instructional video for Baked Ratatouille here:
Peel the onion and slice into circles, or half circles. Remove stems form bell peppers and cut into about 2-inch pieces. Slice the zucchini and the eggplant into circles. Slice the tomatoes lengthwise.
Spoon some of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a 12” ceramic baking dish. Make sure the sauce covers the bottom of the dish.
Next, carefully layer the vegetables on an angle, so they fill up the baking dish in circles or rows, standing on their ends. Insert leaves of basil into the layers, ever four vegetables or so.
Once the vegetables have filled the dish, season with salt & pepper, thyme leaves.
Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables, and then spoon some more of the tomato sauce over the vegetables. Make sure the sauce goes into the open spaces around the vegetables, but don’t drown the vegetables in sauce, an don’t completely cover the vegetables with sauce.
Cover with the lid to the baking dish, or aluminum foil, and bake in the over for about 40 minutes. After 40 minutes have passed, remove the cover or foil, and return to the oven uncovered, to bake for about 10-15 more minutes.
When done, the vegetables should be tender and slightly caramelized. Enjoy immediately or save for a latter dinner or lunch. This is a great prep-ahead item for meal planning.
Baked Ratatouille with Fresh Basil
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 medium eggplant
- 4 each Roma tomatoes
- 2 cups marinara sauce or simple tomato sauce
- 2 medium bell peppers yellow or orange
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tsp. thyme
- 1 bunch basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Peel the onion and slice into circles, or half circles. Remove stems form bell peppers and cut into about 2-inch pieces. Slice the zucchini and the eggplant into circles. Slice the tomatoes lengthwise.
- Spoon some of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a 12” ceramic baking dish. Make sure the sauce covers the bottom of the dish.
- Next, carefully layer the vegetables on an angle, so they fill up the baking dish in circles or rows, standing on their ends. Insert leaves of basil into the layers, ever four vegetables or so.
- Once the vegetables have filled the dish, season with salt & pepper, thyme leaves.
- Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables, and then spoon some more of the tomato sauce over the vegetables. Make sure the sauce goes into the open spaces around the vegetables, but don’t drown the vegetables in sauce, an don’t completely cover the vegetables with sauce.
- Cover with the lid to the baking dish, or aluminum foil, and bake in the over for about 40 minutes. After 40 minutes have passed, remove the cover or foil, and return to the oven uncovered, to bake for about 10-15 more minutes.
- When done, the vegetables should be tender and slightly caramelized. Enjoy immediately or save for a latter dinner or lunch. This is a great prep-ahead item for meal planning.