A couple of weeks ago we enjoyed a lovely dinner party with good friends. A Greek inspired dinner followed by a rousing, hilariously fun card game was enjoyed along with delicious homemade Pastel de nata treats brought by one of our guests and Baklava.
The next day and for awhile after, there was one lonely eggplant hanging out in the fridge that had not been used that evening. Inspired yesterday by a fellow blogger, Masala Herb, it was an easy decision on what to make. We had everything we needed in the house for it besides the zucchini, which was easy to pick up at the grocer.
Ratatouille, served as a vegetable side dish to accompany our 2lb-1 rib standing rib roast was a perfect companion. We bought this roast on sale : ), which by the way I will blog as well due to the fact that it is nearly impossible to get cooking times for such a small roast online, but how much do two people need? right?, I mean it wasn't a holiday...although, eating it always feels like a holiday : )
Not very time consuming to make and altogether completely satisfying, I hope you try this beautiful vegetable dish as either a main course, side dish or even an appetizer. Thank you to Remy who originally started it all and has had me making this dish ever since.
Peel an eggplant and cube into one inch pieces. Peel a few strips off of a zucchini and cut into one inch cubes. Heat 1/4 cup Olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, cook eggplant and zucchini until lightly browned and somewhat soft. Remove from pan and set aside in a bowl.
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| Still in the cooking process, not quite done. |
Peel and slice an onion. Cook in 2 tablespoons of Olive oil until soft but not brown.
Add 2 Bell peppers, cut into one inch pieces. Red, Green, Yellow-whatever you have and enjoy. Add 3 small cloves of minced garlic and cook with the onions and peppers until soft.
Salt and Pepper the onions and peppers to taste.
Add diced fresh tomato, or as I did...use a large can of stewed tomatoes and dice them up, drain the juice from the tomato and cook with the vegetables. Add one Bay leaf and some Fresh Thyme (1 tsp), if you have it (I only had dried). Add the eggplant and zucchini back into the pot and cook for about fifteen to twenty minutes until everything has melded together nicely. In the last few moments of cooking, add fresh cut Basil (I only had dried so I added it a little earlier to give it a chance to soften and aromatize the stew). Remove the Bay leaf : )
Serve on a plate that really showcases the different colors and enjoy.
Delicious!
