Ratatouille

That's right, like one of my favorite movies!  I mean if you haven't seen ratatouille yet you really should, it's frickin' adorable!  Anyways I keep trying to explore the cooking world and cook dishes I have never made before and ratatouille is a classic that I felt had to be done.  It was (once again) inspired by all the fresh veggies I need to use up from the garden (and Katie's garden).  The recipe is slightly adapted from the recipe in my big and beautiful Gourmet Today cookbook, and I would recommend this recipe to anyone, it was absolutely delicious!

Serves 4

The Ingredients
2 small eggplants, chopped about 1-inch thick cubes
1 large zucchini, chopped about 1-inch thick cubes
1 large yellow squash, chopped about 1-inch thick cubes
3 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped about 1-inch thick cubes
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion or 2 little ones, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

The Process
1.  Take already chopped eggplant and place in a colander and put that in a bowl.  Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of salt over the top and toss and let sit for 1 hour (it gets some of the excess water out of the eggplant).

2.  After that hour rinse off the salt from the eggplant and then between paper towels press the eggplant chunks to squeeze out excess water.  Press them about 3 times, or until the eggplant chunks are fairly dry.

3.  Then take eggplant, yellow squash, and zucchini and toss in a bowl with about 1 tablespoon of oil (maybe 2).  Then turn oven on to 500 degrees and place zucchini mixture (single layer) on a large cookie sheet.

4.  Sprinkle the mixture with salt and put in oven for about 30 minutes, but stirring or flipping mixture every 10 minutes.  When done take out of oven and let cool.

5.  In the mean time put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in large pot and heat over medium-high heat.  When hot add the onion, and turn heat down to medium-low heat.  Cook these for about 15-20 minutes stirring frequently; cook until they are soft and golden brown.

6.  Next add the garlic to the pot and cook for about 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes and thyme to the pot and cook for about 5 minutes (the tomatoes with start to get juicy).

7.  Next add the zucchini mixture to the pot and cook for about 5 more minutes or until everything in the pot is heated through.

8.  The very last step you take the pot of the stove and stir in the fresh basil and parsley, this is also the point when you add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!!! It pairs great with grilled chicken!