Ratatouille salad with olives and basil recipe

October 3, 2017

Jill Dupleix's Ratatouille salad with olives and basil. William Meppem

easyTime:1-2 hoursServes:4

Look for vegetables with roughly the same diameter and this will look spectacular. Serve hot with pork sausages, grilled lamb or scrambled eggs, or cool and serve as a roast vegetable salad, topped with basil, olives and capers.

Ingredients

1 red onion, halved and finely sliced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 medium tomatoes
3 Lebanese (long) eggplant
3 zucchinis
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
pinch of dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp thyme leaves
1 tbsp rosemary sprigs
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp black olives
1 tbsp capers, rinsed
handful of basil leaves

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C. Toss the onion with 1 tablespoon olive oil and strew over the bottom of an oiled 23-centimetre ceramic or earthenware pie dish. Slice the tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini into 1cm thick slices, and season well.
2. Using the larger slices first, arrange the vegetables vertically in a ring around the edge of the dish, alternating eggplant, tomato and zucchini. Use the smaller slices to make a second concentric ring in the centre, filling the dish completely. Smoosh the vegetables with the palm of your hand so they lie at an angle like dominoes.
3. Scatter with sliced garlic, chilli flakes, thyme and rosemary and drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil. Cover tightly with kitchen foil and bake for 1 hour, then remove foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. Cool to room temperature, scatter with cherry tomatoes, olives, capers, and basil, and serve.
This recipe goes with Jill Dupleix's Pork belly, pistachio and cranberry terrine