Directions

First, the tomato sauce

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and gently fry the chopped onions & garlic, stirring well.
2. After 5 minutes, add all of the remaining ingredients. Bring the sauce to a boil, and then reduce to low heat, to allow the sauce to simmer gently for 1 hour.

Second, the vegetables

1. Slice the aubergine in half lengthways, then slice thinly into lots of semicircles. Slice the courgette, tomatoes & shallots into thin rounds, the same thickness as the aubergines.
2. Preheat the oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan).

To assemble the Ratatouille

1. In a large round dish that has a lid (or use a deep baking tray, with aluminium foil to cover), cover the base of the pan with the tomato sauce. You’ll need enough to be about 2cm in depth, so whatever is left can be saved for something else, like nice, simple pasta!
2. Now the fun begins: arrange the sliced vegetables & basil leaves, overlapping in a neat spiral, until they are all used (see the photograph). Then scatter over the picked thyme & sliced garlic. Drizzle over the olive oil, and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.Cover the pan/tray with a lid or aluminium foil. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft enough to eat. (It may need longer if you are using a cold tomato sauce)

Chef's tips

1. Serve alongside your main of choice. It works very well with some baked whole fish or roast chicken, and it’s great alongside rice, potatoes, pasta and all sorts!
2. I recently served it with a roasted chicken breast and a herby salsa verde… I only wish I had some good bread to mop up the juices!