Ratatouille

Prep Time 30 minutes | Cook Time 1 hour | Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable layers

1/2 medium onion
2 eggplants
2 zucchini
2 large tomatoes
10 basil leaves
3 springs of thyme
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt

sauce

1/2 medium onion
1 large tomato
2 bell peppers
2 garlic gloves
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp crushed pepper
Salt and pepper

directions

Preheat oven to 350

To Make the Sauce

Start by roughly chopping vegetables for the sauce, including onion, tomato, bell peppers, and garlic. Heat up the olive oil on medium. Saute the onions for a few minutes, and then add the other vegetables. Turn the heat down, add the crushed red pepper. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and let it simmer for 10 min.

Add sauce to a blender and blend until you have a uniform consistency.

To Prepare the Vegetables

Peel the eggplants. Slice them to about 1/8 inch thickness. Slice the zucchini and tomatoes the same way. Thinly slice the onions.

Heat up half the olive oil in a pan. Fry the eggplant slices on both sides. You don't need to cook them through, as they will cook fully in the oven. Once they have some color on both sides, remove them from the pan.

Add the sauce to the bottom of a deep oven safe casserole dish. Add a few chopped basil leaves to the blended sauce.

Arrange the vegetables in a circular pattern standing upright, alternating a slice of eggplant, tomato, zucchini, and onion. Repeat these layers until the dish is full. Nest any remaining basil leaves and thyme in between the layers.

Season generously with salt and drizzle the rest of olive oil over the top.

Cover the dish and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and leave in the oven for an additional 20 min.

Serve with crusty bread as a light main course or to share as a side.