Now that it's Spring and the weather is warmer (thank goodness!) seeing beautiful veggies in the Market thought Ratatouille. I love aubergine (eggplants) and couldn't resist the other day, so I got the ingredients for the dish. Also, I had just purchased a beautiful Staub Cocotte (pot) that I just had to use! And I love the color....
Ratatouille is easy to make and can be enjoyed anytime of the year.... I like to keep it simple with minimal ingredients. I usually make Caponata which has capers in it, but today I did the French version.
So, here is what I did....
Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 eggplant, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large tomato, cut up
extra virgin olive about 1/4 cup
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
bouquet garni, I use fresh thyme, a few sprigs and a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
fresh flat leaf parsley
Method:
Take the eggplant and put into a colander, add salt and let it sit for several hours or overnight. Just before cooking remove the eggplant from the colander and rinse with cold water and pat dry.
Preheat the Cocotte (pot) with olive oil on the bottom of the pan, add the onion, garlic,red pepper and eggplant, stir and coat with the olive oil. Season with the salt & pepper, add the zucchini and bouquet garni. Cover the pot and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
When done, taste for seasoning and add freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.
You can serve this over white rice.