Summer veg ratatouille parcels

Serve these colourful parcels as a light entree, or a side for fish, meat or a grain dish like couscous.

Summer veg ratatouille parcels Credit: Smith Street Books

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 red onions, halved and thickly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
• 1 eggplant (aubergine), sliced into 1 cm (½ in) rounds
• 2 zucchini (courgettes), cut lengthways into 1 cm (½ in) strips
• 2 red capsicums (bell peppers), halved and cut into strips
• 80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ cup) extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp sea salt flakes
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 4 thyme sprigs, leaves removed
• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) tomatoes, deseeded and diced
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• basil leaves, to garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat a barbecue hotplate (griddle) and grill to medium and lightly grease with oil.

2. In two separate bowls, toss the onion and garlic, and the eggplant, zucchini and capsicum in the olive oil.

3. Cook the onion and garlic on the hotplate, and the eggplant, zucchini and capsicum on the grill. Cook for 6–8 minutes, turning occasionally, until softened and caramelised.

4. Transfer to a mixing bowl along with the salt, pepper, thyme, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Toss to combine well.

5. Tear four 1 metre (1 yard) sheets of foil, and fold in half to make a double layer. Cut sheets of baking paper slightly smaller than the foil to place on top.

6. Use a slotted spoon to divide the vegetables evenly between the four sheets, placing the vegetables into the centre of each. Lift the sides up and seal along the side edges by folding over twice (about 2 cm (¾ in) for each fold), leaving the tops open.

7. Divide the remaining juices from the bowl between the parcels, then fold the tops to seal, folding twice as before, but ensuring you leave some room for steam.

8. Reduce the barbecue heat to low and cook the parcels on the grill for 20 minutes.

9. Vegetable parcels can be served hot or at room temperature, garnished with basil leaves. Be careful when opening the foil parcels as the steam inside will be very hot.

Recipe from Feed The Man Meat (Smith Street Books).

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.