Ratatouille is just a magic little combination of whatever colourful veggies you have in the fridge or press. A slow cook results in the best flavours so you could even do this in a slow cooker if you have one or even better make the ratatouille the night before and allow the flavours to really build.
You can do wrong in my mind with roasting an aubergine! Aubergine suddenly goes from being hard and thick to soft, melty and rich in flavour.
This Ratatouille Stuffed Aubergine is a great dish to have prepped ahead. All you have to do come dinner time is stuff the aubergines and place under the grill to heat through and melt the cheese.
If you have any leftover ratatouille – make sure to freeze it or mix through pasta with some chorizo, mince or prawns for a simple dinner option.
Serve with some salad greens and crusty bread to mop up all the juice of the sauce. For more aubergine ideas check out these recipes!
Serves 4.
- 2 aubergine, sliced in half lengthways
- salt
- oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- 1/2 medium courgette, diced
- 1 pepper, diced
- 150g tomatoes, quartered
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 x 50g tin anchovies, drained
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained & rinsed
- 1 ball mozzarella cheese, sliced
- Preheat an oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F.
- Cross-hatch the flesh side of each aubergine halve before sprinkling with salt and drizzling with oil. Place each aubergine half flesh side down on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the aubergine is soft through when squeezed from the sides.
- For the ratatouille: heat one tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over a low heat.
- Add the onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add the celery and courgette and continue to cook until soft. Finally add the pepper and tomatoes and cook until the tomatoeshave broken down well.
- Stir through the tomato paste, anchovies and spices before bringing to a gentle boil. Once boiling, return the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Mix through the chickpeas until well combined.
- Remove the roasted aubergines and scoop out the soft flesh ensuring to keep a little flesh at the outer edges. Roughly chopped the flesh up and mix through the ratatouille.
- Stuff the ratatouille evenly between the aubergine skins. Top with the mozzarella slices and place under the grill until golden and crispy on top.
