Eggplant, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes come together in this classic vegetable ratatouille. It takes minutes to make and is perfect for lunch, a meatless dinner or as a side dish. I even love it cold!
Once again, I have songs running through my head. This time, it’s that one from Green Day, “Summer has come and passed…” And holy smoke, where did it go? My girls’ teacher assignments came today. And let me tell you, this is bigger than a birthday. My kids must have run to the window a hundred times this afternoon to see if the red flag was down on the mailbox. At one point, Eclair was sporting a pirate hat and a pair of binoculars and was perched in the dining room watching for the mailman out the window. They were less interested in finding out who their teachers are and more interested in which of their besties would be in their class. But it sure was funny to see their excitement. They don’t even watch for Santa like that!
The other thing that comes with the end of summer is a whole boatload of delightful produce. At the current moment, I have about 5 pounds of tomatoes on my counter (and that’s after I made this ratatouille and a fresh salsa.) Many of them are from my Dreyer Farms CSA; a few are from my garden; and a good bunch of them come from an unlikely source: my local bakery. Every Sunday, we stop in the bakery for bread and my kids like to visit “the silly man”. He’s actually one of the owner/bakers and asks my kids funny questions like whether they are 17 years old. They find him hilarious and love it when he hands them a little bag of cookies. This past weekend, they stayed in the car with Daddy while I went in. The silly man (AKA Rob) handed me a big bag. I peeked inside to find peppers and tons of tomatoes. He then showed me the garden behind the bake shop where he grows all of it. Nice score!
Ratatouille was an easy choice given what I had on hand: tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and a big purple eggplant. I love this simple vegetable dish for lunch and will even eat it cold. It was rainy and cool yesterday so a big, hot bowl of it was perfect. This recipe is super easy. You don’t have to peel the tomatoes or salt the eggplant. Chop it all and toss it in a pot. Use a big pot though – mine nearly didn’t fit in my Dutch oven when the veggies were raw. Luckily it cooks down fast. So tackle those summer veggies in one big pot with this recipe. It’s worth all the chopping!
- 3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 small green bell pepper, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 green banana pepper, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 sweet red pepper (bell or frying), cut into ½-inch dice
- 5 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 3 medium tomatoes, seeded and cut into ½-inch dice
- 2 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 medium yellow squash, cut into ½-inch dice
- 1 medium eggplant, cut into ½-inch dice
- ½ tsp. dried oregano
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 more minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and oregano. Season to taste with salt. Stir and cook for about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, but not mushy.
- Serve topped with fresh basil and grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. Also great served cold.
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