Ratatouille

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 4-5 fresh tomatoes diced 

• 1 can tomato sauce

• 1 yellow onion minced 

• 5 cloves garlic minced

• 1 red bell pepper minced

• 1 serrano pepper minced

• Salt and pepper

• 8-10 Fresh basil leaves 

Filling:

• 1 Eggplant

• 1-2 Zucchini (depending on the size of the veg)

• 1-2 Yellow squash (depending on the size of the veg)

• Salt and pepper

Topping:

• 2 lg garlic cloves minced

• 8-10 Fresh basil leaves minced

• 2 -3 tablespoons fresh parsley minced

• Several fresh thyme sprigs 

• Pinches of Salt and pepper

• 2-3 tablespoons of Olive oil

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 375*

• Start heating some oil in a cast iron skillet (i used a 10” but you can go smaller or larger) over med heat

• Add minced onion until semi translucent

• Add minced garlic for another minute or two 

• Add minced bell pepper and serrano pepper until soft and fragrant 

• Add fresh tomatoes and salt and pepper until well mixed

• Add tomato sauce and mix well 

• Let simmer for around 20 minutes while you prep the veggies

• I used a mandolin to prep my veggies so they were all uniform in thickness but you can use a knife if you have great knife skills or don't have a mandolin. You are looking for slices as thin as you can possibly make them. 

• When you finish prepping the veggies, add the basil to the sauce and take off of heat. 

• Use either a high speed blender or a stick blender to blend the sauce together until smooth

• Spread sauce evenly on the bottom of the pan. Should be a fairly thick layer

• Alternate eggplant, zucchini, squash over and over and over in a spiral until you have used all the veggies, should be fairly tightly packed

• Salt and pepper the top of the veggies

• Cover pan with aluminum foil and put in an oven for around 40 minutes. 

• While pan is in oven make the topping

• Mix all topping ingredients together and let marinate the rest of the time 

• Take pan out of oven and put topping on it while hot 

• Enjoy!