Ratatouille
This version of ratatouille, rich with tomatoes, courgettes and aubergines, was chopped small to top pasta for a super seasonal meal
Ingredients:
1 or 2 onions, peeled and diced.
A couple of good slugs olive oil.
3 or 4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped.
1or 2 peppers, de-seeded and diced.
1 or 2 aubergines, trimmed and diced.
3 or 4 courgettes, trimmed and diced.
A large tin or 8 or 10 tomatoes, diced.
A handful of chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary, fennel, parsley, basil etc).
A couple of handfuls black or green olives (optional).
Method:
Saute the onions and garlic in the oil.
Add the peppers and allow to start softening before adding the aubergines and courgettes.
Once the vegetables are starting to soften, add the tomatoes and herbs.
Bring to a gentle bubble before adding the olives (if using).
Cook for a few more minutes to ensure that all is heated through.
Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and ground black pepper.
My Tips:
Chopping the vegetables into large pieces (about 2-3cm ) keeps their flavours more separate (good when serving the ratatouille alone or as a side dish) while chopping smaller (about 1cm dice) makes a good sauce for pasta.
The amounts of each vegetable depends very much on what is available and your own taste.
Use a large tin of tomatoes if you don’t have ripe fresh ones.
Add finely chopped chorizo or small “peas” of sausage meat with the tomatoes to make a super pasta sauce.