Pisto-Spanish Ratatouille

I’ve been kind of missing in action for the past three weeks, for which I apologise. We did our annual road trip to Sevilla, but this time coupled it with some work and appointments in Germany first. Since we were mostly on the road, I was only really able to update my Instagram and keep up a little bit with my Facebook page. I have to admit that I did take my laptop with me, thinking I would be able to have some free time and share a recipe with you during the trip. But that was impossible.

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It has not been until today that I was able to sit down and write a post with a recipe. That of course doesn’t mean we’ve not been eating at home since we arrived on Sunday afternoon. We have, but mostly old recipes and nothing new to share. However, if you follow me on Instagram, I usually post what we are doing for breakfast, lunch and dinner… if you’re interested, please do check it out.

During our travels, it seems like it’s always hard to get vegetables (especially in Europe), other than potatoes, on a regular basis in any restaurant. It’s quite frustrating, especially for me, as I rely on vegetables to keep me regular. So, travelling and no veggies makes for a lot of intestinal issues for me.

When we are “home” in Sevilla since it’s usually only a week, we buy food for making breakfast at home, but eat most of the rest of our meals out to make things easier and also enjoy a bit of vacation time away from the kitchen. Consequently, we eat at a lot of tapa bars. Tapas are delicious, but they are not a meal per se. You have to eat a number of them and most of them are not vegetable based. Having said that, that is actually changing now in Southern Spain, and you do see a lot of tapas such as stuffed mushrooms, artichokes with jamon serrano, and pisto (the Spanish name for ratatouille) more often than years ago.

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I completely fell in love with pisto on this trip. I used to hate it growing up and therefore hardly make it at home. But after a few wonderful tapas in Sevilla and a side in France, I’m hooked.

So much, that I made it at home as soon as I could. Here’s the recipe. I added a few spices, but you can make it without if you prefer.

Pisto-Spanish Ratatouille
Author: The Saffron Girl
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 3 medium courgettes, partially peeled and diced
  • 2 medium aubergines, partially peeled and diced
  • 1 large onion, peeled and diced
  • 1/4 paprika pepper (I used red, but any colour is fine), diced
  • 3 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup olive oil (more if desired)
  • 2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground rosemary
  • coarse sea salt, to taste
  • freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Wash, peel and prepare all of the vegetables.
  2. In a deep skillet, place 1/4 cup of olive oil and the onion.
  3. Over low heat, cook the onion until translucent.
  4. Add the pepper and cook 1-2 minutes.
  5. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook about 25 minutes, stirring frequently.
  6. Add the spices and seasoning and the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil and cook an additional 5 minutes.
  7. (If you like your ratatouille less dry, add more than the 1/4 cup olive oil towards the end.)

 

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  1. 8.8.13

    Miam miam! I love the plate! Looks so cute! And the “vegan” Spanish ratatouille looks and sounds divine! Thank you for sharing a wonderful vegan-friendly and meatless dish! I can’t wait to go to Spain very soon, I will be living there for a month along with Argentina documenting on vegan eats! And also I’ll be following you on a feeder! Nice to meet you!

    Cheers, Rika

    • 8.8.13
      thesaffrongirl said:

      Thank you for stopping by Rika! Sounds like an adventure to find vegan dishes in Spain! It will be interesting to read what you report back.. there are quite a few things we make in Spain, which are vegan, such as many soups and potajes (stews). Let me know when you write about it!