Ratatouille

Little did I know there were so many variations to cooking/baking Ratatouille.  This recipe is super simple and the return in flavor is exponential.  Ratatouille is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day because all the flavors have had time to meld.  I would really like to take credit for this variation but, sadly, I cannot.  I have to give credit to my buddy Jeff.   He has made this dish once or twice over the years and I was inspired to follow in his footsteps.

Like I said, this dish is super easy to make.  It’s even easier if you have a mandolin to help you slice the veggies.  If not, no big deal....just keep slicing by hand.   This recipe makes enough for a large family.  So eat up!

Ingredients

1 large eggplant, thinly sliced

7-8 basil leaves, chopped

2 zucchinis, thinly sliced

8 Roma tomatoes, sliced

1 large yellow, chopped

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil

FYI: You can use yellow squash instead of or along with the zucchini.  Try different tomatoes and different herbs too!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large baking dish, lay down a bed of chopped onion.  Sprinkle chopped basil on top of the bed of onion.  Next, arrange repeating segments of sliced eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes on top of the bed onion.  Repeat the segments until a row is completed. Continue until the bed of onion is completely covered and baking dish is packed with veggies.  Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

Next, generously drizzle olive oil over the rows of veggies, such that they are all coated with olive oil.  Cover baking dish with foil and bake for approximately 45 minutes.  Veggies should be tender and oozing with juices.