Ratatouille

With the arrival of spring the vegetable market is transformed with fresh bright colored vegetables. For me, the fresh local vegetables are always a delight. I always find myself buying lots of vegetables and figuring out different ways to use them up. Ratatouille is one such recipe and though it can be time consuming the flavors in the final result are amazing.

There are a lot of variations of this recipe and I tweaked it to suite our taste. I used red bell pepper instead of green. Also eggplant is one of the vegetables used in the preparation of Ratatouille. However, I am not a fan of eggplant so I skipped it.

You will need (6 servings)
5 small zucchini (I used organic so I could keep the peel)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 red bell peppers
1 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
5 small tomatoes
a handful cilantro (you can use parsley)
1 tbsp. basil
salt to taste

Wash and clean all the vegetables. Cut the zucchini along the long edge. Heat the oil in a pan and place a single layer of zucchini slices in it. When they turn brown flip the slices over. When browned on both sides take them out of the pan. Repeat for the remaining slices.

While the zucchini cook, heat water in a separate pan. Cut slits in the tomatoes and place them in the hot water for a few minutes. Drain and put the tomatoes in cold water. Then peel and chop them and keep aside.

Dice the onion and peppers into cubes. In the pan in which the zucchini were cooked add the onions and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the peppers and continue to cook.

Once the onions are peppers are cooked through add the tomatoes. Season with salt and allow the juices to flow. Dice the cilantro and add them to the mixture along with the basil. Turn off the heat and drain the juice. Reserve the juice. Separately, chop the zucchini.

In a casserole dish, place half the onion and pepper mixture. Layer half the zucchini over it. Then place the remaining onion and pepper mixture. Place the remaining zucchini as the last layer. Pour the reserved juice over the top. Place the casserole on medium/low heat and allow the juice to thicken. Occasionally collect and pour the juice over the top of the vegetables. Once the juice is thickened turn off the heat and serve hot.

Enjoy!