Oh gosh, am I going back or what? Every time I hear the word ratatouille I think of the movie – do you remember it?

Anyway, I made a batch of ratatouille this morning, and there’s a story connected to it…

If I hadn’t hung out clothes so early today due to the intense summer heat here on our little patch of heaven, I wouldn’t have discovered 4 lovely eggplants ready for harvesting in the vegetable garden.

After getting the clothes on the line, I meandered out to the garden to pick whatever vegetables and herbs were ready. Now I will tell you the garden has “gone to pot” lately. I’ll blame Mother Nature with the pop up rains, etc. We just couldn’t get out to weed and hoe like we usually do.
Anyway, the eggplant was barely visible next to bell peppers. But hanging down on the branches were several perfect eggplants. Since I had an abundance of tomatoes and bell peppers, as well, ratatouille came to mind.

If you’re got a source for eggplant I hope you try this simple and yummy French vegetable “stew” augmented with herby tones of basil and thyme. 

We like to eat ratatouille warm, but room temperature or chilled is OK, too.

Ratatouille 

Ingredients

1 large eggplant 

About 1/2 cup olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 colored bell peppers, chopped

2 tablespoons garlic, minced – about 6 cloves

2 small zucchini or yellow squash, diced

Tomatoes – 4 cups diced or grape or cherry, quartered

1 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh, minced

Couple handfuls fresh basil, chopped 

Red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt to taste

Romano, Parmesan or your favorite cheese for garnish 

Instructions

Sprinkle eggplant with a little bit of salt, and let sit in colander while you prep the other vegetables. This helps remove some of the moisture and also bitterness, if there’s any. 

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add enough oil to film the bottom of the pan, a couple tablespoons or so.

Add eggplant and cook until softened and a little bit browned, about 10 minutes. Add more oil if you need to. Remove and set aside.

Add more oil, again a couple tablespoons or so.

Stir in onions and peppers together and cook until they soften, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic right on top, then stir and cook another couple of minutes. Careful here, don’t let garlic get brown or it will taste bitter.

Add zucchini and cook a couple of minutes. It won’t get real soft, just crisp tender.

Stir in tomatoes, thyme and red pepper flakes.

Reduce heat to simmer and let everything cook about 10 minutes until vegetables are fairly soft but not mushy. Put eggplant back into pan and cook for a few minutes.

Stir in a handful of basil and add salt and black pepper.

Let sit a minute or two, then drizzle with more olive oil and add a shower of fresh basil and cheese.

Serve as a side dish or over polenta or your favorite grains.

Tip: Ratatouille vs Caponata

They’re actually fairly similar, as both contain eggplant. Caponata is from Italy and has some vinegar, capers and olives in the mix. Also raisins and pine nuts if you like them. Ratatouille originated in Provence and is a more simple dish.