Trip to France: Recipe of Ratatouille

Today your taste buds land in Nice, France! Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, capital of the Alpes-Maritimes department, is the second largest French city on the Mediterranean coast and also the second largest city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

Ratatouille is a rustic, typical French culinary dish that originated in the provençal region of Nice in the 18th century, which had Spanish and Italian influences. This classic recipe is known as a stew created by peasants and poor farmers who had to use the harvest of ripe fresh vegetables from the summer.

Thus, the main ingredients in ratatouille are aubergine and tomato. In the classic way of preparing the recipe, ratatouille involved removing the skins and seeds from the tomatoes and cooking the vegetables separately, to be combined at the end and seasoned with salt and Provence herbs (a combination of thyme, oregano, coriander seeds and fennel), the whole took about an hour to cook and was drizzled with white or red wine.

Try this rustic boiled vegetable recipe that can be eaten hot or cold, with side dishes or on its own and you’ll see that eating vegetables never tasted so good!

Ratatouille

Difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Main ingredient: Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ¾ pound eggplant, cut into ½ inch pieces (about 3 cups)
• 1 small zucchini, scrubbed, quartered lengthwise, and cut into thin slices
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• ¾ pound small ripe tomatoes, chopped coarse (about 1¼ cups)
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• ¼ teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
• ⅛ teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup shredded fresh basil leaves

Preparation method:

1. In a large skillet, cook the onion and the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened.
2. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil and heat it over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking.
3. Add the eggplant and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is softened.
4. Stir in the zucchini and the bell pepper and cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for 12 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
6. Stir in the oregano, the thyme, the coriander, the fennel seeds, the salt, and pepper to taste and cook the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute.
7. Stir in the basil and combine the mixture well.

Note: the ratatouille may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated before serving.

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