Ratatouille is one of my favourite vegetable dishes to make. It showcases beautiful fresh vegetables and is a great way to use zucchini (I have 7 zucchini plants in my garden so I’m sure I will be inundated in the next month).

Following the advice from Anthony Bourdain’s cookbook Appetites, I always cook the vegetables separately. It helps with the overall texture and prevents your ratatouille from becoming a mushy vegetable stew. I also use cherry tomatoes instead of a tomato sauce as I’m sure my garden will be supplying me with many soon enough!

Ratatouille

By Amara Yamamoto

Ingredients

1 bell pepper (orange, red, or yellow)

1 medium sized eggplant

2 small to medium sized zucchini

1 leek or small onion

1 bulb of fennel (optional)

1 pint of cherry tomatoes (approx 2 cups or 283g)

2 cloves of garlic

½ bunch of Italian parsley

3 sprigs of tarragon (or 1 tsp dried tarragon)

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Instructions

Start by chopping all of the vegetables. You will want to keep all of them separate because we will be cooking them individually.

Cut the eggplant into ½ inch pieces and then place into a bowl. Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt over them and mix and let them sit. This will help remove any bitterness.

For the leeks I cut them in half length wise, and then slice them thinly. Leeks are notoriously sandy, so I place them in a strainer and wash them once they are cut to make sure there are no leftover bits of sand or dirt. Let the excess water drain and set aside in a bowl. If you are using onions, dice them into small pieces.

Fennel is chopped into 1/4 inch squares and the fronds can be chopped up as well. You can place them in the bowl with the leeks or onions.

Zucchini is cut in half lengthwise and then if it is quite large, cut them in half again lengthwise to create quarters. I then slice them into 1 cm thick pieces. The zucchini should be in larger pieces than the eggplant a similar size to a cherry tomato cut in half.

The bell pepper is cut into pieces of similar size to the zucchini.

Cherry tomatoes are sliced in half and set aside.

Finely chop the garlic and place with the tomatoes.

Place a large frying pan, dutch oven, or sauce pan onto your burner on medium heat. It will need to be able to hold at least 3.5L.

Place 1/2 tsp olive oil into the pan and add the leeks and fennel. Cook them until tender. If they start browning, turn the heat down. Remove the pan and set aside.

Rinse the eggplant and drain it well. Add more oil to the pan and add the eggplant. If the eggplant absorbs all of the oil, add more. Eggplant acts like a sponge and will use more oil than you think it will. Stir frequently and cook until tender. Remove from the pan once cooked.

Add ½ tsp oil to the pan and then add in the zucchini. Cook until tender but still a little firm, it should still fully hold its shape. Remove from the pan.

Add in the final bit of oil and the bell pepper, cook for 3-5 minutes until they are heated through and still have a fair amount of bite to them.

Add in all of your cooked vegetables back to the pan and mix together.

Add in the cherry tomatoes and garlic. Let cook together for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes start to break down a little.

While the ratatouille is simmering, finely chop up the parsley and tarragon.

When the ratatouille is almost done, add in the herbs and season with salt and pepper.

I like to serve ratatouille on its own or as a side with a protein such as grilled chicken or with a delicate white fish like sole.