Ratatouille

Here's my recipe and process for ratatouille. 

2 onions

9 garlic cloves

Olive oil. 

3 medium eggplants (plus salt)

2 yellow and 2 green squash 

4 bell peppers

(Cut into circles) 

Spaghetti sauce or tomatoes 

More olive oil

Thyme

Rosemary

Oregano

Salt and pepper. 

Process: 

Cut up the eggplant. 

Put the pieces in a strainer and salt them on both sides. This draws out the water and gives them a non-spongy-weird texture. 

I just leave the strainer in the sink so the eggplant moisture can go right down the the drain. 

Then chop an onion and sauté it. While it is sautéing in olive oil. Chop up some garlic. And throw that in there too. I used 9 small ones in this double recipe. 

And then mix in gobs of thyme. Maybe 2 Tbsp. and mix it up for a long, low sauté. 

While its cooking, cut up all of this stuff. 

When veggies chopped, blend onions in food processor to make a delicious palte that you will smear on the bottom of the pan. 

Then blot your eggplant to remove the salt and excess water - and you are ready to assemble 

I blot mine using the "paper towel sandwich" method. 

Then layer. 

In lue (loo? lu? leu?) of tomatoes, I use sauce. Every time we got 5-6 tomatoes this summer, I'd make a sauce and freeze it. So, garden fresh tomato sauce goes in this recipe instead. I put it between the rows so it can flavor the dish from underneath. :-) 

Ok, fill the pan. Then drizzle olive oil on top, a few spoons of sauce and some herbs: thyme, oregano and rosemary today. 

Cover with parchment paper (or Tin foil) and bake in 375 degree oven for about 40-60 min. 

And it's delicious! Good luck! 

We usually have some leftover eggplant or zucchini. We fry these up in corn meal and coconut flour to make some yummy appetizers!