It's time to clean out the fridge again, that , and the fact that Ryan had stock taking last night would be home rather late and asked for a Ratatouille to eat when he got home. It's easy to reheat and add to rice. I usually don't add mushrooms to my version of this dish, but as I said, it was clean-up time. While I prefer a green pepper because the flavour is more distinct ,alas , it was only a red pepper that I had. The point here is, that this dish lends itself very easily to substitution, so long as the main components are present. (Onions, garlic, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers.) After I assemble all of the ingredients, I clean them and rough chop everything, as Ryan likes his vggies cut bigger and chunkier..I will not give specific quantities as it just depends on what you have on hand. Last night I sauteed, 2 organic onions, 6 garlic cloves in some olive oil, until onions are translucent and you begin to smell the garlic.
Be careful not to let the onions or garlic burn.
I like to buy my tomato paste in tubes, the cans are always more than a recipe calls for, and I know that you can always freeze the extra, but I'm not organized enough to take it out of the freezer ahead of time.
This tube allows me to use only what I need. I squeezed out a very generous tablespoon into the sauteed onions and garlic.
Once it is fully Incorporated and beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan,
I made a cup of vegetable broth, and added it to the mixture.
You could also use chicken stock if you so prefer. Continue stirring for about one minute and now you are ready to add the chopped vegetables.
Please don't add the tomatoes until the end.
The eggplant will cook off tquickly creating more liquid, the zucchini will take the longest to cook. Ryan does not like crunchy vegetables, i usually cook the zucchini fist before adding the eggplant and peppers. Last night I just put a lid on the pan and let them steam through. Then after about 10 minutes I removed the lid and let the broth reduce down a bit. when you add the chopped tomatoes it will once again create more broth.
Add the diced tomatoes (fresh or canned) and at this stage lower the heat and just let the vegetables heat through as to your desired firmness of how you like to eat your veggies.At the very end I like to adjust the seasoning, salt, pepper, chopped basil, I also added oregano
and then garnished with some chopped parsley. Ryan likes to eat his over a bowl of rice, the rest of us like it served cold with a crust of bread. You can also add an extrs drizzle of olive oil and some olives if you have them on hand.
