About the Recipe
There is nothing quite as delicious as slow cooked ragu and ratatouille, so why not have best of both worlds with this creation that I like to make to give that special feeling of gut-health ‘amore.
- Sunni Patel, PhD
The antioxidants from the vegetables and herbs are a sure fire way of keeping the free-radicals at bay.
If you choose to use mushroom mince it will provide additional sources of Vitamins C, B6, D and other micronutrients - Iron and Magnesium, where soya mince will provide additional protein (14.9g per 100g)
Ingredients
Olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried marjoram
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried rosemary
2 medium carrots (diced)
2 medium onions (diced)
3 celery sticks (diced)
400g passata
1 veg stock cube
100ml water
200g mushrooms (minced) or soya mince, or 200g and courgette
1 large pepper (diced)
Topping:
1 courgette
1 aubergine
3 tomatoes
Olive oil
Dried herbs
Preparation
Step 1
To a pot, add 3 tbsp olive oil, garlic and all the herbs and lightly fry for a minute or so (until you smell the aroma of the herbs) before adding the carrots, onions and celery.
Step 2
Once the vegetables are slightly softened add the passata, stock cube and water until the cube is fully dissolved in the mixture.
Step 3
Add the mince and peppers and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until you have a thick consistency.
Step 4
Whilst the ragu mix is cooking cut the topping vegetables (courgette, aubergine and tomato) into 3mm thin slices using a mandolin or a knife.
Step 5
Put the ragu mixture into an oven-proof deep dish and cool completely.
Step 6
Top the mixture with alternating slices of courgette, aubergine and tomatoes until you have covered the dish.
Step 7
Sprinkle with olive oil and herbs, cover loosely with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 180°C, and a further 10 minutes without the foil to brown the vegetables.
Step 8
Serve with a side salad.