Oven-Roasted Ratatouille

Making a Ratatouille by the book takes a long time — you need to cook every vegetable on its own and then combine it all in a saucepan to create an almost smooth paste of vegetables that can be a great accompaniment with rice, mashed potatoes, or polenta. I hope the French will forgive me on this one, but Ratatouille for me is a quick dish that combines whatever's left in the fridge, baked in the oven and served as is or as a side dish. Baking the vegetables together has its disadvantages — not every vegetable gets the right cooking time or temperature. Eggplants need a higher temperature than zucchini, tomatoes need longer to develop all their sugars, and so on. Looking at all those disadvantages, I still prefer the baked version when throwing all the vegetables together. It's healthier, it's a big time saver, and let's be honest — kids don't really care if we follow the original recipe.   A nice variation I like to add to this mixed vegetable dish is a poached egg (to make it vegan, just leave the egg out). It adds some moisture and ties the ingredients together into a smooth sauce — just mix it all and enjoy a new Ratatouille experience with a mild, runny egg on top.

Why is Ratatouille working?

There's nothing like a bowl of vegetables covered in tomato juices and seasoned with the scent of herbs. Ratatouille has always been a great dinner dish or a hearty side, and making it in the oven really saves you from pan-frying each vegetable one at a time — no more working really hard to get it done the old-fashioned way.