Ratatouille Vegetable Casserole

Ratatouille is a French vegetarian dish that is usually served as a side dish or as a starter. It is very healthy because it has a variety of fresh vegetables, mainly zucchini, eggplant and green pepper. I changed a bit in the main recipe and used carrots and mushrooms instead of green pepper. It is a light and delicious recipe that you can eat alone or as a side dish with steak or grilled chicken.

Ingredients

- 1 onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic crushed

- 2 carrots diced

- 250 grams fresh mushrooms sliced

- 4 tbsp vegetable oil (I used canola oil)

- 1 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dry thyme)

- 1 tsp salt

- Freshly ground black pepper

- 2 zucchinis sliced

- 2 long eggplants sliced

- 2-3 red tomatoes sliced

- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (optional if you can eat dairy products)

Method

1. Put the vegetable oil in a deep frying pan and add the diced onion to it.
2. Add 1/4 tsp salt to the onion and mix well until translucent and soft.
3. Add the crushed garlic and stir well.
4. Add the diced carrots and stir, and then add the diced mushrooms and the thyme, the freshly ground black pepper and 1/4 tsp of salt.
5. Cook until the carrots are soft.
6. Pour the mixture into a glass baking plate and lay the slices of zucchini and eggplant and tomatoes over the mixture alternating (a slice of zucchini, then a slice of eggplant, then a slice of tomatoes).
7. Sprinkle salt and black pepper on top and you can add some grated Parmesan cheese (Optional if you can eat dairy products).
8. Cover the plate with aluminum foil and put it in a preheated oven (200° C) for half an hour or until the zucchini and eggplant are well done.
9. Remove the foil and bake it for another 5 minutes to crisp the top.
10. Serve it warm or cold.