20mins active, 1-4 hours hands-off
~4 servings servings
Ratatouille! But not like the movie. This is RatatouilleLite™ but no shortcuts on flavor. Twenty minutes of veggie chopping and then your dinner cooks itself. The longer you exercise your patience, the more deliciously delicate your dish will be.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 4 large tomatoes
- 1 large eggplant
- 2 large zucchini
- 3 bell peppers
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 Bay leaves
- 2 cups fresh basil, roughly chopped or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (de-stemmed) & 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 can (about 1.5 cups) of cannellini beans or chickpeas
Preparation
- Wash and chop vegetables into bite sized pieces.
- Add all ingredients except lemon juice and beans to a large pot on the lowest low heat (if time pressed, start off on medium heat and once sizzling turn down to simmer).
- Leave the pot cooking as long as you can, letting the flavors and juices mingle together gently (at least 1 hour).
- Drain beans, stir them in along with lemon juice once ratatouille is nearly a soup-like and your kitchen is fragrant. Remove bay leaves.
- Best served atop fresh pasta, rice or along with very crusty bread.