April is playing it cool this year. With all those cheeky long weekends and midweek holidays, it’s practically begging everyone to slow down, sleep in, and ditch the alarm clocks.
It’s that glorious stretch of the calendar where workdays feel optional and family time suddenly feels like the main event. So what’s the plan? Pajamas till noon, movies on repeat, and—of course—food that’s both indulgent and easy to pull off.
Enter: Cheese Waffles with Mushroom Ratatouille.
- This isn’t your average waffle situation. Forget the syrup and whipped cream—this one’s gone rogue in the best way possible. It’s a savory masterpiece that turns breakfast into brunch, brunch into dinner, and dinner into a “please make this again” family favorite.
Imagine golden, cheesy waffles—crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle—acting as the perfect stage for a rich, garlicky mushroom ratatouille piled high on top. It’s the kind of meal that looks like you tried (but not too hard), and tastes like it came out of a very cozy little café in a very stylish corner of the world.
The best part? It brings everyone to the table. Kids, parents, picky eaters, enthusiastic seconds-getters—this dish doesn’t discriminate. It’s made for sharing, talking, laughing, and stretching the day out just a bit longer before reality creeps back in.
So go ahead. Make this the hero of your Lazy April feast. Waffles for dinner? Always a yes.
Cheese Waffles with Mushroom Ratatouille Recipe
Serves 4-6 (Makes 6 large waffles)
Ingredients:
Ratatouille:
- 1 aubergine, diced
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 yellow pepper, diced
- 1 large courgette, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 400g mixed mushrooms, sliced if large, whole if baby buttons
- 1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
- 3-5 sprigs fresh thyme
- Handful fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
Waffles:
- 170g plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 225ml milk, room temperature
- 2 large free-range eggs, room temperature
- 75g butter, melted and cooled
- 75g Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 Tbsp fresh chives, finely sliced, plus extra for garnish
- 250ml plain yoghurt, for serving
- Olive oil, for cooking
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
For the ratatouille:
- Heat a generous drizzle of olive oil in a large Dutch oven / deep saucepan over a medium heat.
- Add the aubergine and cook until golden and softened, but not cooked through.
- Add the onion, peppers, courgette, garlic and mushrooms.
- Sauté until fragrant and the veg begins to soften.
- Pour in the tin of tomatoes, and rinse the tin out with a little water and pour it in too.
- Add the thyme sprigs.
- Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Top tip: if your tinned tomatoes are too acidic add a little pinch of sugar to mimic a deliciously sweet sun ripened tomato.
- Mix well and cover.
- Simmer over a low heat for 15 – 20 minutes until thickened and all the veg are juicy and tender.
- Taste to adjust seasoning and then scatter over the fresh basil leaves.
For the waffles:
- Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and whisk.
- In a separate bowl, whisk milk, eggs and butter together.
- Pour the wet into the dry and whisk until smooth.
- Fold the cheese and chives into the batter with a spatula.
- Preheat waffle maker.
- Top tip: If you do not have a waffle maker you can use this batter in a non-stick frying pan with a little olive oil and just make savoury pancakes!
- Depending on the size of your waffle maker, use a ladle or half cup measure to just cover the waffle iron with batter.
- Don’t be tempted to overfill.
- Cook until golden and crisp.
- Depending on your brand of waffle maker – around 4 minutes.
- Transfer cooked waffles onto a cooling rack and repeat with the rest of the batter.
To serve:
- Plate waffles and spoon over a generous amount of warm mushroom ratatouille.
- Finish with a dollop of yoghurt and scatter with fresh chives. Enjoy!
