Not Just a Man's World

I’ve previously put up a recipe on this site for ratatouille, but that particular recipe takes time to get a really good result, and can easily result in soggy veg.

In reality, a basic variant on ratatouille is something we often eat at home, using the same sorts of ingredients but cooking it up with less time and fuss with results that are almost as good.  In fact, it works particularly well with things like beef burgers.  I’ve called it “poor man’s ratatouille” not because it’s for those who can’t afford the ingredients but because it’s great if you are time-poor.

Poor man's ratatouille

Ingredients (serves 3-4):
4 onions, chopped finely
2-3 bell peppers (depending on budget), roughly chopped
2 courgettes, halved lengthway and chopped into inch-wide chunks
10 medium mushrooms, quartered or cut into six pieces to give large chunks
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp dried oregano (or 1 large handful of fresh oregano, finely chopped)

Directions:

1. Heat some oil in a pan and brown the onions for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften.
2. Add the other vegetables to the pan and leave to wilt over a medium heat for a further 3-5 minutes (depending on the vegetables and the quantity in the pan, if you’re using peppers, courgette and mushrooms then 3 minutes should be fine).
3. Once the vegetables are starting to reduce in size and soften up a bit (note that they don’t need to be cooked through, they’ll do that while the tomato reduces) add the tinned tomatoes and oregano.  Mix in thoroughly and leave simmering vigorously over a medium heat for 10-15 minutes while the tomato reduces a little.  It’s worth coming back every 5 minutes or so to stir it around and make sure it doesn’t stick or burn, but otherwise it can be left to itself, leaving you free to do something else.
4. Once the tomato has reduced to your preferred consistency (we tend to leave it with a loose “pasta sauce” consistency) serve up and enjoy!

Storage:

If you are very time sensitive, I’ve found that this will keep in air tight Tupperware boxes in the fridge for 4-5 days, so I can make up a batch on day one and spend 2 minutes reheating a portion each evening without it affecting the quality of the ratatouille.

Related posts:

1. Paleo recipes: ratatouille
2. Paleo recipes: parsley and lemon sauce (for fish)
3. Paleo recipes: cottage pie
4. Paleo recipes: braised meatballs