Ratatouille — Provençal separately sautéed summer vegetables
Ratatouille is a Provençal summer vegetable dish, not a catch-all name for any mixed vegetable casserole. The core here is aubergine, courgette, sweet peppers, tomato, onion, garlic and olive oil, with thyme, bay and parsley providing a restrained herb profile. There is no potato, cheese or decorative layered oven arrangement. The finished pan should contain tender vegetables that remain recognizable, held together by a reduced tomato base rather than floating like soup.
This preparation uses separate sautéing for the three vegetables most prone to uneven cooking. Aubergine gets 30 ml of the measured olive oil and enough pan space to brown instead of steam. Courgette follows with 15 ml, then peppers with another 15 ml. The pieces are kept around 2.5 cm so they can soften without disappearing. All 80 ml of oil are measured in advance and remain part of the finished dish and its nutrition; there is no invisible extra pour at the pan.
The tomato base is built only after those vegetables have been removed. Onion softens with 10 ml oil, garlic is added briefly, then 700 g tomato, thyme, bay, salt, pepper and the final 10 ml oil simmer uncovered until obvious watery liquid reduces. The separately cooked vegetables are then folded back in for 20 minutes over low heat. The target is tenderness with definition: aubergine should be soft, courgette and pepper should still show their edges, and the spoon should not uncover a puddle of thin tomato water.
