Gourmet Ratatouille Quenelles
Rosanna Stevens
Gourmet Ratatouille Quenelles are full of rich Mediterranean flavor and sit prettily on a plate, too.
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr
Course Side Dish
Cuisine French
Servings 6 servings
Calories 133 kcal
Roasted tomato puree
- 500 grams (18 oz) cherry tomatoes /baby grape
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Ratatouille
- 1 white onion
- 1 aubergine /eggplant
- 6 baby courgettes /baby zucchini
- 2 red bell pepper
- 15 grams (½ oz) basil
- 3 teaspoon olive oil
- Salt and cracked black pepper
For the roasted tomato and garlic puree
Preheat the oven to 180℃/355℉
Drizzle an oven tray with extra virgin olive oil, and add the cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped garlic, a few basil leaves, and season liberally with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Roast the tomatoes and garlic for around 30 minutes until they are lightly caramelized.
Blend the tomatoes and garlic to a puree (I use a stick blender/immersion blender) and then push it through a sieve to remove the seeds and skins. Transfer to a saucepan and reduce over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
For the ratatouille
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium.
Finely dice all the other vegetables into small cubes approximately ¼ inch or half a cm. Keep them all separate.
Sautee the vegetables in batches. Fry the onion and aubergine together first. Then remove to a bowl, add slightly more oil, and sautee the courgettes, then remove to a bowl. Lastly, sautee the red pepper.
Combine the vegetables in a bowl and add the roasted tomato puree 1 tablespoon at a time to achieve the right consistency. It needs enough puree to bind it together, but too much will become sloppy. Add finely chopped basil at the end and season with salt and pepper.
Use 2 dessert spoons with tapered ends to quenelle ratatouille. Scoop ratatouille with one spoon, and use the other to form 3-sided oval shapes. Transfer them to plates and serve.
I normally serve 3 quenelles per person as a side dish.
Always sautee the red pepper last and on its own or it will stain the other vegetables red, and you won't get such a clean color contrast.
Store the ratatouille in an airtight container in the fridge and heat it up on the stove or in the microwave before you quenelle.
Calories: 133kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 8gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 19mgPotassium: 1378mgFiber: 6gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 2760IUVitamin C: 140mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 3mg