Spanish-style ratatouille recipe

Aubergines, courgettes, peppers and potatoes combine to make this delicious oven-baked dish a healthy and filling meal. 

Ratatouille is from the South of France, but versions of it exist all over Mediterranean Europe. This Spanish-style ratatouille features colourful, sunshine vegetables so it looks beautiful as well tasting great. 'Rata' and 'touille' literally mean 'stirred food'. It was originally peasant food - people put leftover vegetables into a large pot and cooked them for hours. This version is still economical, but only takes a little over an hour to make. We've baked it rather than cooking it on the hob too, so it's easy to do - no stirring required. At only 332 calories per serving, it's one of our favourite low calorie meals.

Ingredients

• 2tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium aubergine, sliced into 12 large slices and halved
• 1 onion, peeled, quartered and leaves pulled apart roughly
• 1 orange or red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 2 courgettes, trimmed and cut into wedges
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 3tsp fresh oregano (or 2tsp dried)
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
• 6 medium potatoes, unpeeled and thickly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Set the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6. Put a roasting tin in the oven to heat up.
2. Add the oil to the hot tin, then the the aubergine, onion, pepper and courgettes. Stir to cover the vegetables in the oil and roast for 10 mins.
3. Meanwhile, put the can of tomatoes, oregano and garlic in small pan, and simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes, until reduced by about a third.
4. Mix the slices of potato in with the roasting vegetables, and spoon in the tomato sauce. Season well. Cover the tin with foil. Bake for 30 mins, then take off the foil and bake for another 20-25 mins, until the vegetables are tender. Leave for 5 mins before serving.

Top tips for making Spanish-style ratatouille

If you prefer you can cook this on the hob, for about an hour. If the sauce looks as though it is drying up, mix some tomato purée with a little hot water and stir it into the vegetables.

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