Saffron-spiked ratatouille with fried egg and sourdough bread

• 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into eighths
• olive oil, for frying
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 6 ripe red tomatoes, roughly chopped, or 1 x 400g tin of good tomatoes
• a good pinch of saffron
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 2 aubergines, cut into 1cm slices
• 3 courgettes, cut into 1cm slices
• a small bunch of fresh basil
• 2x Fried Eggs
• Sourdough Bread

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas

2. 2

   Put the red peppers on a baking tray, drizzle over a little olive oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper, then put them into the oven to roast for 25 minutes.

3. 3

   Next, heat a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan and add the onions and a pinch of salt.

4. 4

   Cook for 10 minutes, until soft and golden, then add the garlic and thyme and cook for another couple of minutes.

5. 5

   Add the tomatoes and saffron and vinegar and cook for a few minutes more, until almost all the liquid has evaporated.

6. 6

   Put this sauce into a deep baking dish or tray.

7. 7

   Put the frying pan back on the heat, add a little more olive oil and fry the aubergines in batches until golden on both sides, adding more oil as needed - the aubergines tend to soak it up.

8. 8

   Once cooked, pile the aubergine slices on top of the tomato and onion sauce.

9. 9

   Fry the courgettes the same way and add these to the dish too.

10. 10

    Once the peppers have had their time in the oven and are burnished around the edges, add them to the dish.

11. 11

    Mingle the peppers, aubergines and courgettes together on top of the sauce, season with a little more salt and pop back into the oven for 40 minutes to cook through.

12. 12

    pepper, and Once ready, stir to mix it all together, then tear over the basil, add more salt and pepper if needed and drizzle with olive oil.

13. 13

    I like to serve my ratatouille with a fried egg on top and a good chunk of bread or flatbread.