Lukewarm ratatouille salad

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 red bell pepper(s)
• 1 bell pepper(s), yellow
• 200 g potatoes, cooked in their skins
• 5 stalks thyme, finely chopped
• 1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 200 g firm-fleshed eggplant(s)
• 200 g zucchini, small and firm
• 50 g black olives
• salt and pepper
• 500 g tomatoes
• 3 tbsp vinegar (red wine vinegar)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper, black
• Sugar
• Cayenne pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 35 minutes

Side dish or solo as a filling meal

Halve the peppers, clean them, and place them outside-up on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 250 degrees Celsius until the skin blisters and develops black spots. Cover with a damp cloth, let cool slightly, and peel off the skin. Trim any blackened edges. Cut the flesh into 1 cm cubes. While the peppers are baking, prepare the vinaigrette. Blanch the tomatoes, peel them, and deseed them. Puree them, whisk in the vinegar and oil, and season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and sugar. Dice the potatoes, eggplant, and zucchini into 1 cm cubes. Pit the olives and cut them into thin strips. Prepare the vegetables one at a time in separate batches. First, fry the potato cubes in olive oil until golden brown, season. Do the same with the eggplant. Finally, fry the zucchini with the onions and garlic; they should still retain their bite. Fry some thyme and rosemary with each frying. Mix the vegetables and season again. They should remain lukewarm; keep warm if necessary. Pour a little sauce onto the plate, add the vegetables, and sprinkle with the olive strips and a little thyme. Note: It’s very important to use very sweet, aromatic tomatoes for this dish. I made it once in winter, and the vinaigrette was a bit bland for me. Perhaps you could spice it up with a little balsamic vinegar in this case. If the eggplants are fluffy in the middle, cut out the soft parts and use only the edges.