Winter Warmer Recipe: Ratatouille Stew

Ingredients

• 2 bell peppers - any colour- chopped 

• 2 courgette chopped 

• 1 aubergine - chopped

• 1 small winter squash or sweet potato - chopped and skinned 

• 1 large onion - chopped

• 6 garlic cloves  - peeled and chopped

• 1 packet of passata 

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning 

• 1.5 teaspoons Herbs de Provence 

• 1 teaspoon celery salt 

Method

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil until softened. 

2. Add in the peppers, courgette and squash, stir in the passata and tinned tomatoes. Mix in the seasoning.

3. Cook on a low heat for 45 minutes, or slow cook for 4 hours, or pressure cook for ten minutes. 

I use an instant pot and just throw everything in and pressure cook for ten minutes. If using a pressure cooker, add half a cup of stock or a splash of wine for extra liquid to prevent the pot burning. For added heartiness, add a pack of slightly overcooked chopped sausages, or some chopped up feta cubes. 

This is really heartwarming after a swim in the local river!

Enjoy!

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Written by Helen Heggadon

Hi my name is Helen Heggadon, I am Age 49 (and ¾, too close to the big 5 0), I live in Devon with my husband.

I work as a Customer Care Advisor in a call centre for a large telecom company and have just started diving into the world of writing articles. I am a member of Toastmasters International (public speaking group) in my spare time, where I have participated in club and area contests, and helped run a workshop on public speaking to the Tilney Group.

When I was younger, I wrote poetry, more of a means of communication than anything else, I have never had any proper training for poetry, or any other kind of writing, aside from what you get in high school.

Recipes