Roasted ratatouille soup
Eggplant, zucchini and peppers roasted until soft and sweet, then simmered in tomato with basil: all of summer in a chunky, olive-oily bowl.
- 65 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.87 a serving
- 270 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 zucchini, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 can crushed tomatoes, 28 oz
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- ¼ cup fresh basil, torn
- ¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)
- 4 slices French bread, toasted (optional)
From your pantry
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 270 calories, 7 g protein, 33 g carbs and 15 g fat, and costs about $2.87 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No zucchini? Yellow squash works.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No crushed tomatoes? Diced tomatoes work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No French bread? Sourdough bread works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 425°F. Cut the eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper and onion into bite-size chunks and the garlic.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Peel. Peeling means removing the skin with a vegetable peeler or a small knife. It takes off tough or bitter skins, though potato and carrot skins are fine to leave on unless the recipe insists.
How you’ll know: The color underneath is even all over, with no patches of skin left behind.
Spread the vegetables and garlic over two rimmed baking sheets. with the oil, sprinkle with the thyme, salt and pepper, and toss.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Dolly’s tip: Eggplant drinks up oil fast and looks dry at first. It softens as it roasts, so don’t add more.for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring halfway, until the eggplant is soft and everything is at the edges.
Roast. Roasting means cooking in a hot oven, around 400°F to 450°F, usually spread out on a sheet pan. The dry heat browns the outside and brings out sweetness, especially in vegetables.
How you’ll know: The edges are browned and a little crisp, and a fork slides easily into the thickest piece.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Timer: 32 min 30 sec
Scrape everything into a large pot, add the crushed tomatoes and broth, over medium heat and cook for 10 minutes.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Mash the garlic and some of the eggplant against the side of the pot with a spoon so the soup , leaving most of it chunky.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Stir in the basil and taste for salt.
Low heat
Ladle into bowls, top with parmesan, and serve with toasted bread for dipping.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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