Ratatouille à la Provençal

This vegetable dish combines the colours and the ingredients of Southern France. The word Ratatouille, meaning tossed or tumbled together, has gone into the French language to mean to get oneself into a mess. Quelle ratatouille…what a mess!
Serves 4

Peel and roughly chop the onions. Finely chop the garlic. Cut the capsicum in half, remove the seeds and all the white membranes. Slice or chunk the capsicum. Cube the unpeeled zucchini, or slice thickly in the case of smaller ones. Cube the unpeeled eggplant to suit the size of the other vegetables; chop the tomatoes.
To achieve the best flavour, cook each vegetable separately; combine them towards the end of the cook.
Take a large pot, add the oil and onion; sauté until the onion is soft, continue over low heat for 10 minutes until the onion is golden and caramelised but not brown; this produces the best flavour.  Add the garlic during the last minute and cook it with the onions. Set aside.
Cook the cubes of eggplant in sizzling oil and brown them slightly. If the eggplant blots up the oil, add a little more oil as necessary. Remove and set aside. Do the same with the zucchinis.
Stir in the capsicums, and the roughly chopped tomatoes, plus the tin of tomatoes. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Remove lid, cook another 2-3 minutes to remove excess liquid.
Taste and season well and sea salt and freshly cracked pepper.
Just before serving garnish with the fresh oregano and basil leaves.
I enjoy serving this with a dollop of my olive tapenade or basil pesto – both recipes are in the website and in this series on YouTube.