Would you care to share your recipe? I’m not a fan of eggplant but I’m sure I could find an alternative or omit it.
It's far more of a method than a recipe. But here goes.
Start with an eggplant (it really is pretty important so I'd at least give it a try; all these flavors are going to meld together so, for you, this could be a love it or hate it thing). Cut off the stem and blossom ends, cube it, place the pieces in a strainer and salt them generously. Let them sit over the sink overnight.
Take a couple zucchini and do the same.
These are robust bite sized cubes, mind you.
Next day, get a large or a couple medium size onions and cut them into bite size pieces. Caramelize them. I do that in the oven stirring them every 15 minutes or so. (And when I do them for ratatouille I also do a bunch to have in the fridge for other things like burgers and grilled cheese sammies.) When they're golden and jammy, set them aside.
Take a couple red and/or yellow bell peppers. Core them and cut them into bite size pieces. Put them in pan/baking sheet you did the onion in and roast them until they're browned and soft. Set them aside.
If you're using fresh tomatoes, plunge them in boiling water to peel them. Remove the cores. Squeeze out the juice and seeds but save them. Roughly chop the solid parts. If you don't want to do all that or if you want to make this in the cold months (I always do!) get some good canned or boxed diced or crushed tomatoes. Put them in a shallow pan with lots of chopped garlic -- you'll know how much is "garlic-y" for your family.
Now get some fresh basil. Lots of it. pull off the leaves and chop them. Gather the stems and tie them together in a bundle. Save the chopped leaves. Put the stem bundle in the pan with the tomatoes and garlic. Simmer them slowly until they lose some of their moisture and get fragrant. Salt to taste. Take out the bundle of basil stems.
At the same time, take that eggplant and zucchini that have given up most of their moisture and pat the surfaces dry. Brown them -- separately -- in olive oil. You can do this by roasting them in the oven, sautéing them or deep frying them in about 2" of hot olive oil. Your choice. I do them all at different times to get variety in the character of each batch. Toss the browned veggies with a little salt. Set them aside.
Now you've got cooked eggplant, zucchini, onions, and bell pepper ready to assemble. Into a deep heavy casserole (you want slow gentle heat) goes the eggplant, spoon over it a layer of onions. Sprinkle with some
herbes de Provence and chopped basil. Add the zucchini and cover that with a layer of onions. Sprinkle with some
herbes de Provence and chopped basil.. Layer on the peppers. Top with onions and some more
herbes and basil. Pour over the tomato mixture. If you feel like it's needed, strain the seeds out of the tomato water and add as much as feels good to you. You're looking to end up with a substantial "stew" of veggies -- not too runny and not dried out.
Put the casserole in a 325˚ oven for 30-40 minutes or so until it's steamy but your tomatoes still have a nice color. Plunge a spoon down to the bottom to serve.
There are lots of ways to serve
ratatouille. As an entrée it's great with polenta or rice or noodles. I like it with crumbled sharp Feta or goat cheese. My husband likes Parm. The very French way to serve it is with a poached egg with a runny yolk on top. It's good cold as a salad. It makes a great "sauce" for fish. It's great as a veggie with grilled meat. It's great with eggs in the morning. I make a brunch dish with individual casseroles of
ratatouille topped by polenta topped with more
ratatouille and bake that with an egg and cheese on top. You can assemble a bunch of these in advance and bake them on a baking sheet for impressive presentation. You can also use it as a "sauce" with fresh veggies.
For the
soupe au pistou you just take whatever you have left, add chicken broth to make a soup. Throw in whatever veggies you have at hand or thing it needs. Heat it through to cook whatever fresh veggies you added and when you serve it serve it with a generous spoonful of
pistou (which is the French version of pesto).
I learned the peasant way but if you go online you can find much fancier versions where the veggies are carefully arranged instead of going in the casserole. When you glam it up, it gets called a
byaldi. (And that's the Thomas Keller version that the Disney movie
Ratatouille was inspired by.)
It's not a fast meal. That's why when I make it I make a big batch. But it's great and you can enjoy it for a week.
