Tried and True - Ratatouille

Here is the ratatouille recipe I promised in yesterday's post. This is indeed a tried and true dish in our house.  Ratatouille on polenta - baked with a little cheese on top - pretty good on a cold January or February night.  This is the time of year when it is not too hard to find all these end of summer vegetables. You will need onion, garlic, peppers, eggplant, summer squash and tomatoes.

Ratatouille – Makes about 8 servings. Serve hot or at room temperature. Use as a side dish or serve over pasta or polenta with grated parmesan or asiago or similar cheese for a main course.
For best flavor use fresh garden vegetables. Make a double or triple batch – this freezes beautifully. Saute 2 cups of chopped onion and 4 cloves of minced FRESH garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil about 5 minutes over medium heat. Then add about 3 cups EACH of eggplant, zucchini squash and bell peppers and 4 cups fresh tomatoes – cut into approximately 1/2 inch cubes or pieces. Season with 1 1/2 t. salt, fresh ground pepper and about 1/2 c. chopped fresh herbs ( a combination of basil, thyme, oregano, parsley and rosemary is nice if you have these. Often I use just fresh basil and parsley.) Simmer covered until all vegetables are tender, about one hour. Stir occasionally while simmering. Even better the next day. A few Mediterranean olives on the side would be a great idea, too.