Exciting things are afoot here at Cookie and Kate, but I don’t want to speak too soon and jinx it. For now, I’ll tell you about something else that’s exciting: my friend Ali’s new book, Inspiralize Everything, is here! Ali is the girl who got me hooked on veggie noodles and she’s probably gotten some of you hooked as well, considering that her first book is still flying off the shelves.
Her new book is organized by types of produce (it’s an “Apples-to-Zucchini Encyclopedia of Spiralizing”), and even though it’s not vegetarian, I have already dog-eared so many meatless recipes to try. It’s a great resource for anyone interested in spiralizing veggies, that’s for sure.
To celebrate, I’m sharing her delicious ratatouille recipe today, which features spiralized bell peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, and onion cooked in a hearty tomato sauce with eggplant. It’s a spin on classic ratatouille. Traditionally, ratatouille ingredients are chopped and sautéed separately, but this dish comes together quickly on the stove. It’s the perfect use for all those late summer garden veggies, and would be especially lovely on one of those rare, cool summer evenings.
I used the Inspiralizer that Ali sent me a while back to make the noodles for this recipe. I’ve gotten some questions about spiralizers vs. julienne peelers lately, so I thought I’d address that while we’re on the subject.
I really love the voluminous curly noodles that you can get with a spiralizer, as opposed to the straight noodles that you get with a julienne peeler. With a spiralizer, you can make ribbons out of vegetables like onions and bell peppers, which you couldn’t do with a julienne peeler. So, even though the spiralizer is bigger and more difficult to clean, it’s earned a permanent place in my kitchen. I accidentally used the wrong blades for my noodles, but the ratatouille turned out great, anyway, so I wouldn’t worry too much about which blade is which for this recipe.
If you don’t have a spiralizer, I think that you could probably chop all of these ingredients by hand into similarly sized pieces with good results. Or, make my roasted ratatouille instead!
Spiralized Ratatouille
- Author:
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Stew
- Cuisine: French
Here’s a fun (and easy) spiralized take on traditional ratatouille. Enjoy it as is, or serve it on spaghetti or crusty whole grain toast. I think it would be great with eggs, too. Recipe yields 4 servings.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 sweet yellow (Vidalia) onion, peeled, spiralized with blade A, noodles trimmed
- 2 red bell peppers, spiralized with blade A, noodles trimmed
- 1 medium zucchini, spiralized with blade D, noodles trimmed
- 1 medium yellow squash, spiralized with blade A, noodles trimmed
- 1 cup packed julienned eggplant (from 1 small eggplant; you’ll have leftovers)
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ cup packed fresh basil, finely chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, warm the oil until shimmering. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and onion. Cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the bell pepper, zucchini, squash noodles and eggplant. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables are softened, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Crush the tomatoes individually by hand over the pot (beware of red splashes!), adding each one to the pot, as well as all of the juices remaining in the can. Stir in the bay leaf and oregano. Increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 7 to 15 minutes (take care not to overcook them, or they’ll be mushy).
- Stir in the basil and cook for 1 more minute. Remove the bay leaf before serving.
Notes
Recipe minimally adapted, with permission, from Inspiralize Everything by Ali Maffucci.
▸ Nutrition Information
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Judith
If you take a small knife and cut down the side of the zucchini, yellow squash and only cut to almost the middle, you don’t have to trim your noodles after you’ve spiralized them. Everything goes much faster if you do that at least in my kitchen. I hate trying to cut all the long noodles but the ready-=made small uniform size noodles are easier to eat and look prettier to me. You can also spiralize an egg plant if you want to rather than make the strips. Anything that gets in my kitchen runs the risk of getting spiralized.
★★★★★
Kate
Great to know! Thank you, Judith!
Susan
Could you please explain what blade a and blade d look like? My spiralizer doesn’t have those notations.
Kate
Hi Susan, I think any shape will turn out well. I actually used the wrong noodle shapes and it turned out great.
Jessie @ Chasing Belle
This looks so yummy! What a great meal to highlight in preparation for fall. I can imagine making this on Sunday and having it for dinners and lunches throughout the week! Would be good too mixed up with some hearty grains
Kate
Thanks, Jessie! I can definitely attest that it makes great leftovers. Just had some for lunch with spaghetti!
Jo Bay
Delicious. First time I used my spiralizer. It made a bit of a mess in the kitchen but was lots of fun. Thanks.
Kate
I’m glad to hear it! Thank you!
Tori//Gringalicious
Wow, this looks amazing! I must confess that I’ve never made ratatouille but I’ve wanted to ever since the first time I heard of it so I’m really excited about this!
Kate
Ratatouille is so good! I think you’ll love it.
Mindy
This sounds so fresh and delicious! Sadly I don’t have a spiralizer yet, but it is on my short list of new kitchen tools I MUST HAVE. I will be getting one very soon!
★★★★★
Kate
They really are fun to have!
Allyson
My kitchen’s pretty small, so I try and avoid having too much equipment. But I keep seeing so many spiralized recipes that I wonder what I’m missing. Either way, you’ve just reminded me that I haven’t made ratatouille at all this summer, which is a huge problem. Thanks!
Kate
Yeah, I can certainly relate. Hope you get one someday, maybe when you have a bigger kitchen!
DANA
Tasty food eats! Also, TELL ME ALL YOUR EXCITING SECRETS. NOWISH.
Kim
Just made your Spiralized Ratatouille! Yum! Easy and tasty. I own a different Spiralizer so it was a bit of trial and error to match the blades but it turned out great. I amped up the fresh basil and oregano to our liking. Looking forward to making again. (Instagram’d it). Thank
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you, Kim! Glad you figured it out.
Jennifer Berkey
All I can remember from this recipe is the 2007 American computer-animated comedy film, but this truly mouthwatering, heaven!
★★★★★
Kate
Haha! Thanks, Jennifer.
Hannah
Please provide more details, Jennifer.
Mollie
Hi! I am going to make this tonight! I have an xoxo good sprializer I bought from bed, bath and beyond. Can you please let me know what blade A means (what cut: spaghetti, etc) for each letter so I can make it with mine! Thank you very much :)
Kate
Hey Mollie! Like I said in the post, I actually used the wrong noodle options when I made this but it still turned out great. I think any option would work. If you want to make it like mine, I used the wide, flat noodle option on the zucchini/yellow squash, and the more spaghetti-like option for everything else.
Joanne
This is summer in a POT! And I would totally lick that pot clean.
Kate
Right?! Hope you and your sweet girl are having a great summer.
Maria
Made this today and it was delicious! I only had fire-roasted tomatoes but the taste was great. I don’t have that particular spiralizer so I also played around with the blades. Hopefully there will be left-overs for my lunch tomorrow. Thanks.
Kate
Yay! Thank you, Maria.
Chef Lynne Pelletier (retired)
Ok… just FYI… Ratatouille is French not Italian.
Ratatouille ( rat-ə-too-ee; French: is a traditional French Provencal stewed vegetable dish.
I do love the spiralized idea though.
★★★★
Kate
Head smack! I knew that. :) I must have written Italian because Ali’s family is Italian. Fixed it.
Saskia Sara Hassan
I loved this! I bought a spiralizer just so I could make this recipe, and I’m so glad I did! I was amazed at how flavorful and QUICK this recipe was. I used a jar of roasted red peppers instead of a fresh red pepper, because I prefer the roasted flavor. It was delicious over cous cous!
★★★★★
Kate
Congrats on your new spiralizer! They are really fun to have. So glad you loved this one. Great idea to serve it over couscous!
Jimmy
Made this exactly as per the recipe and wouldn’t change a thing (which is rare) other than to make more! Love this, thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks, Jimmy! So kind of you.
Ali
Hi Kate! Thanks so much for posting this recipe! I made it tonight for a big group of my friends and we LOVED it. Big hit. Highly recommend making it with fresh whole wheat baguettes. Cheers! Ali
★★★★★
Marianna
Can this be made in a slow cooker? If so, what would be the recommended time and setting?
Kate
Hi Marianna – I haven’t tried this one in the slow cooker, apologies I can’t be more of help here! I do want to note for the flavors to really sing, steps 1 and 2 are key. I’m not sure you would save much time with a slow cooker.
Marianna
Now that I’ve made it according to recipe, I realize how silly my question was! Especially it being all veggies which don’t take long to cook. I should know not to tweak your recipes too much, as I’ve found they’re perfectly satisfying and simple as is!
play yahtzee free
I love this Artical and this recipe very much.
Kate
Thank you!
Carolyn
In instruction #3, there seems to be a typo — “high” instead of “heat”.
I got hungry just reading this recipe! I could make it while my broccoli salad marinates…
Kate
Thank you!
Julia
Really delicious with a great flavor! Filled with healthy vegetables. Goes well with some wheat bread. Did not have a spiralizer, so just cut the vegetables very thin.
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Julia!
Jack william
It look yummy and delicious. I will definitely try this and share my feedback with you. Thankyou for sharing.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome, Jack!
Angie
This was far more delish than I was expecting! I will say next time I will only spiralize the squash as the others were more trouble than just slicing, but that’s probably just my spiralizer. I used dried oregano but fresh basil, a must and we loved the flavor. So good, thank you!
★★★★★
Kate
Thanks for sharing, Angie!