Ratatouille my way

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 eggplant(s), sliced ​​(1 cm)
• 2 small zucchini, firm, diced, approx. 1 cm
• 2 bell peppers, red and yellow, skinned, pitted, diced (2 cm)
• 3 tomatoes, peeled, pitted, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 small spring onions, without green parts, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 handful of small-leaf Provençal basil, fresh

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 30 minutes

French vegetable stew

There’s a fine line between a crisp vegetable stew and a mashed mush with this dish. Make sure you take the time to cook each vegetable individually, according to their degree of doneness. I would never put all of them in a pan at once. Salt the eggplant slices and place them on kitchen paper for 30 minutes, then dry them and cut them into cubes with sides of about 1 cm. Carefully fry them in 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil until golden brown on all sides. This takes a while, so please be patient. After about 10 minutes, remove them and drain them on kitchen paper. Now increase the heat slightly and brown the zucchini on all sides with half a tablespoon of oil, season with salt, and remove them. This takes much less time, though—about 2-3 minutes—otherwise the zucchini will become soft. Now add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and sauté the peppers for 3 minutes. Reduce the heat, stir in the onion and garlic, and sauté for another 3 minutes. Season with salt. Then add the tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini (which had just been salted). Season with pepper, mix, and cook gently until tender. I think the vegetables should still have a bite. Finally, stir in the basil and serve the vegetables warm, lukewarm, or cold, on their own or as a side dish with meat or fish prepared in the South of France. Lamb is particularly good.