Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a fast and tasty (and vegetarian) side dish.

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• a bell pepper
• 1 large eggplant (or 2 small)
• 1 zucchini
• 2 tomatoes
• basil
• parsley
• dried thyme
• olive oil
• 1 spoon of tomato purée
  

Start by sautéing the garlic in a bit of olive oil, over a low heat, for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Add the onion and sauté until transparent. Then add the eggplant in cubes or thin slices, a pinch of salt, and toss it a bit with a wooden spoon to oil all around. After a couple of minutes add the zucchini, sliced, and the bell pepper, chopped, and another pinch of salt. Stir for 5 minutes and add the herbs and chopped tomatoes. If the vegetables haven't leaked enough juice to have a thick sauce by now, add a bit of tomato paste and if necessary, a few spoons of water, a final pinch of salt, and pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes.

You can eat it like that, hot or cold. I wanted to use it to escort some fish, so I moved it to serving-sized cocottes, topped with breadcrumbs and a drop of olive oil, and put them in the oven for a few minutes to get a nice gratinée crust. Alternatively, you can eat it the next day with an egg on top.

My favorite is to spoon it with some hot just-out-of-the-oven bread. (Yes, the small breadrolls leaked some cheese again, but I'll keep practicing).