Easy Baked Ratatouille Provençale is a colourful vegetarian dish consisting of thinly sliced zucchini, eggplant, tomato and bell pepper swimming in a tomato, goat cheese, thyme sauce drizzled with olive oil and a few olives.
Easy Baked Ratatouille with Olives is such a delight for the eyes and the taste buds. Really simple to make in under 30 minutes. Simply need a mandoline and you’ll get this fantastic-looking and tasting dish made in no time! The secret of this dish lay at the bottom of the dish. A sauce made with; goat cheese, tomato, garlic, pepper and thyme. When merged with all the top veggies it turns into a splendid explosion of flavour! I usually serve ratatouille with rice, or couscous, and make sure to add the bottom juice all over the rice.
Goat Cheese in the Ratatouille?

Even the biggest goat cheese skeptic might fall for this one. You’ll see… it gives the ratatouille a whole new dimension, an extra smoothness to the dish. It’s a subtle touch that hides underneath the veggies, a sidekick to bring in some ‘je ne sais quoi’ to the dish. I use fresh crustless goat cheese for this but if you prefer feta cheese or cream cheese it would work out fine too!
Holy Olives!




A few juicy olives on top are a must, again optional, but give that extra touch of salt and colour to the Ratatouille. Just a few freshly cracked Kalamata olives will do, and a touch of thyme and olive oil to make this dish Mediterranean. Every country bordering the Mediterranean sea got their own version of Ratatouille, for example; the greek call it Tourlou, the Turks; Türlu; the Catalans call it Samfaina, and the Italian; Caponata, etc. all have a little variation to it, but the end of the day: this dish is classic!
To Serve with?
Ratatouille is usually a side dish, served with fish or meat. Nowadays, and this version is more of a main dish, served on couscous, rice or even pasta. The world is slowly getting more and more vegetarian and frankly, this dish is totally complete as it is! Especially with the added cheese, it’s a wholesome dish!
So let’s get this colourful ratatouille!

Easy Baked Ratatouille with Olives
Equipment
- a casserole or oven proof dish
- mandoline optional
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant (sliced 2-3mm thick)
- 2 zucchini (sliced 2-3mm thick)
- 1/2 onion (finely chopped)
- 1 yellow bell pepper (any color would do, sliced)
- 3 tomatoes (sliced thin)
- salt and pepper
The bottom sauce
- 100 g tomato paste
- 75 g Fresh goat cheese (or feta, cream cheese)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp thyme
Topping
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- kalamata olives
Instructions
- Blend the tomato paste, onion, 2/3 of the bell pepper, garlic, goat cheese, 4 cracked open olives, thyme and olive oil in a mixer until smooth.
- Add the paste at the bottom of an oven proof 30cm dish (12 inch).
- Cut the washed eggplant, zucchini, tomato and the leftover of bell pepper with a mandoline (3mm thin).
- Add a bottom layer with only the zucchini and eggplant slices alternately.
- Add the top layer, alternately the zucchini, eggplant, pepper and tomato slices.
- Crack a few olives and olive oil on top.
- Cook for 30 minutes at 180°C (350F).
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