Greg’s Ratatouille

So named because every recipe I’ve seen for ratatouille differs from all
the others. Make it once and then experiment. It’s hard to screw up if you
get the basics down (i.e. simmered spiced tomato sauce used to thicken
sautéed or roasted or braised vegetables). It’s also easy to expand the
following recipe and refrigerate or freeze the leftovers and use it as a
basis for pasta or rice toppings (if you really want to), pizza topping
(and it’s the best you’ll ever have), or a side dish if reheated.

   * 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
   * 3 T olive oil
   * 2 minced habaneros, or 4 minced jalapenos (I usually use more habs,
     but I like it hot)
   * 3-4 fresh large tomatoes, peeled, cored, and most of the seeds
     removed. The best way to peel is to immerse the tomatoes in boiling
     water for about 1 minute after making a shallow score in the skin near
     the stem end, remove from the boiling water, cool, and remove the
     skin.
   * 5 minced scallions, white parts only (reserve the green parts and chop
     in ¼" dice)
   * 3 T fresh rosemary or 3T+ dried rosemary
   * ¼ cup tomato juice, or some liquid (stock of some kind)
   * 2 T brown sugar
   * 2 T chopped fresh basil or 1 T dried basil AND 2 T chopped fresh
     oregano or 1 T dried oregano
   * Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the garlic until limp in the olive oil (don’t brown) in a large stock
pot (or in a small sauce pan if you want to use a lot of pans). Add the
chopped tomatoes and other ingredients (if using fresh basil and oregano,
don’t add it yet). Simmer about 20 minutes on medium heat. If using fresh
basil and oregano, add about 5 minutes before removing from the simmer.
Stir well every 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from heat. You can proceed to the
next parts of the recipe using the same pan by putting the tomato mixture
in a bowl and setting aside, or you can do the following in separate pans.
You can also cook the vegetables below by broiling or roasting separately.

   * · About 4 cups sliced eggplant, all pieces about ¼" thick and 2" or
     less wide; or, use a mixture of eggplant and/or zucchini and/or summer
     squash. 2 medium eggplants will do, or one eggplant and some of the
     other squashes. You can also bake or roast the eggplants by cutting
     them in half lengthwise, cooking in the oven for about 30 minutes on a
     salted, foil-lined sheet, cooling, and cutting the eggplant into
     appropriate sized chunks (and skipping the sauté section below).
     Eggplant should be peeled if it’s large (if using baby eggplants or
     Japanese eggplants, leave the peel) but should not be peeled if you’re
     roasting or baking it.
   * · 1 medium sweet onion (or about 1 cup of sliced sweet onion if you
     have a big one), sliced about ¼" thick and cut into 2" sections
     lengthwise (i.e. quarter the onion and slice the quarters). You need
     about 1 cup, or more if you like onion. I like onion, so I get closer
     to 2 cups total.
   * · Peppers: about 5 bells, preferably mixed colors, seeded, cored, and
     sliced about ½" wide or less. Best if you use 3 red bells, 1 green
     bell, and one yellow or orange if you can find it, but the taste is
     pretty much the same regardless of the colors. Also: add two seeded
     and sliced jalapeños if you desire.
   * · ¼ cup red wine (optional) or ¼ cup liquid (water, broth, etc.)

Cook the vegetables in separate batches. You can sauté each batch in about
1T olive oil, or roast or bake them. My preferred method is below (with
notes on alternatives that don’t seem to affect the taste). If you sauté
the vegetables, do them in this order and remove the vegetables from the
pot and reserve. Add new oil and continue.

· Sauté or broil the eggplant. To sauté, cook over medium-high heat in 1 T
olive oil until limp, but not until it falls apart: the pieces should be
tender. To broil, roast, bake, or whatever, see above under the eggplant
section; basically, you should cut it in half lengthwise, put the cut sides
down on a foil-lined sheet, poke some slits in the skin side, and bake or
broil. If using added squashes, sauté with the eggplant, or if you cook the
eggplant separately, sauté the squashes by themselves and mix in when you
reserve them all. · Sauté the onions in about 1 T olive oil with a pinch of
salt and pepper, and extra garlic, if you like garlic. I usually squeeze
the juice from ½ large lemon over the onions just before removing. Remove
from pan. · If using the same pan, add 2 T olive oil and raise heat to
high. If using a separate pan, you can do this step while doing the above
steps, but have the pan and oil on high. Add the pepper strips and stir to
coat with oil. Cook about 5 minutes until peppers just start to burn on the
bottom and smell really GOOD. Stir well, and repeat. Cook this way for
about 15 minutes total. Peppers should be very limp but have roasted
sections on them. When peppers are limp and well cooked, splash in the wine
(or reserved liquid) and sauté for another 2 or 3 minutes.

Add everything to a large stock or sauce pot (or the same pot, if you’ve
been doing this in one large stock pot) and stir well to mix over medium
heat. Add another 2 T olive oil. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until
everything is heated well and just starting to bubble. Add more liquid if
you want a less-thick sauce. Remove from heat and serve hot, or allow to
cool to warm and serve over crusty bread or with pasta, or cool and
refrigerate and reheat as a side-dish or use in sandwiches or in casseroles
or in whatever you want. Makes a good filling for omelets, and I think it
tastes better the next day after being refrigerated. You can also add more
tomatoes and/or tomato sauce and cooked seafood to get a great pasta
topping, or use the leftovers for a pizza topping (spread the ratatouille
over the pizza dough, sprinkle with a mixture of feta cheese and mozzarella
cheese, and bake about 15 minutes or until pizza crust is done).

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