Ratatouille

It's no secret I'm a foodie.  I love food- from it's rawest form to its most complete (sometimes most overdone) state.

So when I married a farmer and his green thumb, my yard began producing amazing things!

This is one day's garden harvest. (I'm planning a post regarding my appreciation for this land) 

I turned to my vintage (ie old) cookbook and spotted the perfect recipe for such fresh produce- ratatouille!  It's embarrassing to admit that prior to this day I had no idea what it was, honestly.  I knew it was food because of the movie.  See- embarrassed. 

But this recipe was so easy, do delicious. Even my meat living farmer of a husband approved.  With some warm bread, of course ;)

And Molly- that girl eats everything! She's a girl after my own heart.

Ratatouille 

(I must note, this recipe was adapted from my old cookbook, but I did change a few things which may take away from the traditional ratatouille recipe.)

1/4 cup lard or bacon fat (seriously?! I used olive oil)

1 white onion

2 garlic cloves

1 green pepper

1 red pepper (I had an Italian sweet pepper on hand and used this instead)

1 medium eggplant

1 tblsp fresh thyme (I used fresh parsley)

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash (I didn't have this, so I subbed another zucchini)

6 large tomatoes, seeded (I used the entire thing-seeds and all!)

1 tablespoon basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Add lard (olive oil) to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Dice all vegetables into 1 inch dice- try to get them all about the same size. Mince garlic. Add onion to hot oil and cook until barely caramelized, 7-10 minutes.  Add peppers, eggplant and thyme (parsley) and cook, occasionally stirring for about 5 minutes or until eggplant is tender.  Add zucchini and squash and cook another 5 minutes, or until tender.  Lastly, add tomatoes, salt, and pepper and cook until tomatoes are softened, about 10 more minutes.  Finish with basil.  

I served this with a fantastic whole wheat oatmeal bread (recipe coming), but in retrospect, this would have been a great addition to pasta.  Heck, I should research ratatouille.  I'm sure there are better ways to serve it!  Either way, it's fresh and filling, and as a wife and Mom, it's a dinner I can feel good about!

Enjoy!

Lisa