Spicy Smoky Ratatouille Casserole – An elegant, flavorful recipe for ratatouille with Middle Eastern spices, smoked paprika and mushrooms. Hearty vegan entree.
Ratatouille for Passover… this idea has been knocking around my head for a few weeks now. It started with the desire to create a vegetarian entree for readers who aren’t eating meat during the holiday. I was looking for something unique– natural, homemade food elevated to another level. It needed to feel substantial enough to be served as a main course and special enough for a holiday. For some reason, I kept coming back to ratatouille.
Many of you are familiar with this dish because of the Disney animated film, Ratatouille, in which a loveable rat chef named Remy surprises a restaurant critic with his elegant, layered spin on the simple vegetable casserole:
Ratatouille, as the chef mentions in the clip, is a “peasant dish.” It originated in the Provençal region of southeast France and was often prepared during the summer when farmers had access to an abundance of fresh vegetables. The name comes from the French cooking term “touiller” meaning “to toss.” The basic idea is a tomato base tossed and cooked with lots of vegetables– zucchini, tomatoes, squash, eggplant. Sometimes it’s all thrown together in a pot, other times the vegetables simmer on top of the sauce. The original concept is super simple and very tasty. Still, there is always room to improvise.
Loosely based on a lovely recipe by Bruno Albouze I created a spicy, smoky version of ratatouille with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences. The tomato base includes peppers, shakshuka-style, as well as smoked paprika, fresh herbs and lots of garlic. I added seared mushrooms to the base to give it a more substantial, meaty texture. Vegetables are sliced thin and layered on the top in a fan-like pattern which makes for a pretty presentation on the dinner table. The casserole is topped with olive oil, garlic and herbs, then baked covered in a slow oven and finished uncovered at higher heat. The flavors are given time to develop here; the spices in the sauce permeate the vegetables and the garlic roasts on top. It’s a beautiful dish, visually appealing with layers and layers of flavor.
This dish takes a long time to make (lots of chopping and slicing), but the good news is you can prep pretty much the whole thing in advance. All you’ll need to do is assemble and cook on the day you serve. To make this Passover-friendly and low carb I served it on a bed of cauliflower couscous (it’s not actually couscous for those who are wondering– it’s purely cauliflower blended to cook like couscous). This would also make a very impressive vegetable side. For a more substantial dish, serve over mashed potatoes.
If you’re not observing Passover, you can use any starch you like– real couscous, rice, orzo. Feel free to play around with the basic concept, it’s really a forgiving recipe. Add your favorite spices and herbs, or use the squash or vegetables that you have on hand. It’s a great way to clean out the produce drawer and look like a champion doing it.
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Spicy Smoky Ratatouille Casserole
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients
- 2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- 1/2 pound button mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 carrots (minced)
- 2 ribs celery (minced)
- 1 onion (minced)
- 1 yellow bell pepper (roasted and chopped, skin, seeds and stem removed)
- 1 red bell pepper (roasted and roughly chopped, skin, seeds and stem removed)
- 1 anaheim or poblano pepper roasted and roughly chopped, skin, seeds and stem removed
- 1 chile pepper (roasted and roughly chopped, skin, seeds and stem removed)
- 8 basil leaves (minced)
- 1/4 cup olive oil (divided)
- 2 teaspoons crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika (also known as sweet paprika)
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (if spice sensitive use 1/4 tsp)
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
Sliced Vegetable Topping Ingredients
- 4 Roma tomatoes (approx 10 oz, sliced very thin)
- 8 ounces zucchini (sliced very thin, about 2)
- 5 ounces Japanese eggplant (sliced very thin, about 2)
- 5 ounces yellow squash (sliced very thin, about 2)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- Salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (chopped)
- 2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil
NOTES
Instructions
- It's important to have your vegetables chopped, sliced and fully prepared before you begin. There are a few different ways to roast the peppers -click here for options. With this dish I usually throw them directly on the burner of my gas stove and let them cook until the skin chars and blisters. With tongs, carefully turn the peppers so that they roast evenly on all sides. The peppers are done roasting when they are soft and starting to collapse.
- Transfer the roasted peppers to a large mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the peppers to steam for 15 minutes. You can also steam them in a paper bag if you prefer.
- While the peppers are steaming, prepare and chop the rest of your ingredients. The Roma tomatoes, zucchini, Japanese eggplant and yellow squash should be sliced very thin, about 1/16 in thickness. This is best done with a sharp serrated knife or a mandoline. It does take a bit of time, but the result is totally worth it.
- Once your peppers have finished steaming, peel off the skin and remove the seeds and ribs under cool running water. Roughly chop the peeled peppers and set aside.
- In a food processor, combine the chopped vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped peppers, basil, 2 tsp crushed garlic, salt, smoked paprika, cayenne, paprika and oregano and pulse until you have a rough puree with texture. Taste the mixture; add additional spices and salt to taste, if desired. Note that the flavors will develop more during cooking-- don't overdo the spice, you'll taste it more when the dish is completely cooked.
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a sauteuse pan or heavy bottomed skillet over medium high until hot. Spread out the sliced mushrooms in a single layer in the pan. Let them stand without stirring for 2 minutes until they are golden brown on the bottom. Begin stirring the mushrooms; continue stirring for another 2-3 minutes till they are nicely browned throughout. Remove mushrooms from the skillet and set aside.
- Add the remaining 2 tbsp of the olive oil to the pan and sauté the minced onions, carrots and celery, scraping up any brown bits as you stir. Cook until the largest pieces of carrot and celery are soft and the onions are caramelized.
- Add the mushrooms back to the pan along with the tomato mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Start to layer on the sliced vegetables by first overlapping them in a circle around the outer edge. Layer them close to each other; don't worry, you should have plenty of veggies to cover the whole surface.
- Continue the same pattern until all of the sliced vegetables have been used. If you have extra vegetables you may want to double the layer in the center circle.
- In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp of olive oil with 1 tsp crushed garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well and drizzle over the top of the sliced vegetables. Sprinkle the top lightly with salt and pepper, then sprinkle the fresh thyme over the top of the dish.
- Cover the pan with a lid or a layer of parchment paper. Bake for 90 minutes. Remove the the lid or parchment and increase the heat to 350 degrees F. Cook for an additional 45 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil. Serve hot over cauliflower couscous, mashed potatoes or your favorite starch.
- This dish takes a long time to prep, but the good news is you can prepare pretty much the whole thing up to 2 days in advance. Slice the vegetables (a mandolin will speed up this process) and place them into plastic zipper bags. Roast the peppers and make the tomato-pepper sauce, then place in a sealed Tupperware. Mix the olive oil and garlic mixture and chop any herbs for garnish. Refrigerate all of the ingredients. That way, all you'll need to do is assemble and cook on the day you serve. You may want to extend the baking time at 300 degrees by 10-15 minutes if the sauce is cold when it goes into the oven. I don't recommend freezing this dish, as the vegetables will become very mushy when reheated.
Nutrition
Hi Tori! Made this for the family yesterday. Big success and no leftovers! I didn’t have the time to roast peppers so I used Turkish pepper paste and canned tomatoes. Thanks!! Will definitely make again!
I came across your recipe while searching for vegetarian dishes to bring to my first seder! This is a really lovely, flavorful, and spicy dish! We were able to adapt this a little to a two pot dish, because we had to transport it by bike in something smaller and lighter than an oven-safe skillet. While truly delicious, this does lack one thing that I love about more traditional ratatouille, which is the easy prep work! That said, I’m looking forward to figuring out how I can adapt these spices into a more traditional cooking method for this summer when it’s way too hot to have an oven on for hours!
Passover is now passed over, but I made the recipe tonight, along with couscous to soak up the copious juices. Delicious, and not too spicy (for me, anyways). My family was wowed by the presentation and flavours. Was I supposed to use regular tomatoes (not Roma) in the base, as it was very watery, even after simmering? Still delicious, though, and I’ve made many versions of ratatouille over the years. Keep ’em coming! Wish I could send you a photo of my finished dish!
Marcy I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yes, I used vine ripened tomatoes in the sauce and Romas for the topping, which may have been the reason your sauce was more watery. Next time try vine ripened, or simmer it longer to reduce and thicken the sauce before adding the topping.
Great post! This looks and sounds amazing and I enjoyed your video insert. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for a great veggie option for passover! I have to admit that I took a shortcut and used Trader Joes fire-roasted tomatoes with peppers rather than tomatoes and roasting peppers. I had tons of veggies leftover after doing the top; half as many would have worked. We just served with baked potatoes, roasted asparagus and a salad for the main meal. I will do this again!
Glad you liked it Ithacabelle! Shortcuts are great in recipes like this, no shame in using pre-roasted. This is the second note I’ve received about having leftover veggies on the top; I will test it again soon to see if I need to cut back on the amount called for. Thanks for writing!
I made this dish for the first night seder. It came out fantastic and everyone loved it. It’s definitely time and labor intensive. The colors in the dish, the aroma, the taste – all were great! Prep as much as you can one day before. I followed the recipe exactly and have a ton of leftover veggies. I plan on making a Passover vegetable lasagna with them 🙂
Great Hamsa! So happy you enjoyed it 🙂
Hi, Ratatouille recipe sounds great, slightly different then my usual take, more peppers, which is fine with my family !
However, am I just missing it ? But I can’t see the “Cauliflour Couscous” … You say it’s not actually cous cous, but mashed up cauliflour. Wanted to make most of it tonight, so in hurry to hit the stores before too late. Is it there and i’m just missing it ?
Thanks very much – Whole meal sounds great – Vegetarians so interested in trying the soup as well!
Hi Jules– I linked to the cauliflower couscous in the intro to the recipe, here is the direct link: https://toriavey.com/cauliflower-couscous/