RatatouilleIn late summer and early fall there are plenty of tasty vegetables coming out of the garden. Things like eggplant, peppers and tomatoes. One of my favorite recipes makes the most of all of these, it’s a classic Italian dish called ratatouille.

It just makes sense that these vegetables taste good together since they come out of the garden at about the same time.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, sliced and seeded
  • 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into rounds
  • 3 zucchini average size
  • 3 cups diced tomatoes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • pepper
  • 3 chicken boullion cubes
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
  • rice, pasta or couscous

Instructions

  1. To begin, sauté the garlic and onion in olive oil. Next add the sliced bell pepper and eggplant, and continue cooking the vegetables over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes or until they are tender.
  2. Add the zucchini, diced tomatoes and bay leaf along with one teaspoon of salt, a few pinches of pepper and 3 chicken bullion cubes. Cover the vegetables with a lid and simmer for about 20 minutes. Just before serving fold in about 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil and half a tablespoon of fresh chopped oregano. Add the fresh herbs last to retain their best flavor.
  3. Serve over pasta, rice or even couscous. There's enough here to serve 4 people.