Ratatouille

This delicious, traditional Provençal vegetable dish can be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by rice, potatoes, or simply French bread), or as a side dish.

Recipe serves 3-4. Increase quantities to serve more, and add different vegetables as desired for variation.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 eggplant
• 1 green pepper
• 2 zucchinis (cucumber also works well)
• 6 medium tomatoes, ripe (juicy) and peeled
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Herbes de Provence to taste

Directions

Put a large casserole on the stove on medium heat. Chop onions and garlic. When the casserole is hot, add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the casserole with a thin layer of it. Put onions and garlic in casserole. They will brown while you chop the green pepper, which in turn goes into the casserole. Slice the zucchinis, put into casserole, do the same for the eggplant. Stir from time to time so that the vegetables cook evenly.

Now for the tomatoes: they must be peeled, this is key to a proper ratatouille. Dice them, or cut them into quarters, put into casserole. Five minutes later, check to see if the tomatoes have made enough juice to almost cover the vegetables - if so, perfect. If not, add water as needed (not too much).

Add salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence to taste. In general, 1 tbsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper and 1 tbsp of the herbs will suffice. Cover the casserole and let simmer on low heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour.