Ratatouille

La ratatouille is a vegetable stew which have existed in France for centurys.
One of the most healthy dish, it is also one of the most tasty and the most refreshing by a nice summer afternoon in Provence. It is the city of Nice in the blue coast of France, who first introduce Ratatouille in 1778.

Ratatouille is generally a side dish it can be served with some meat but it can also be served by itself and be eaten with a nice slice of toasted bread.
Today, it exists some variations of this dish, but most of them were bord around the Mediterranean.

Ratatouille is perfect when served with a rosé or white wine during nice warm summers afternoon, and can be very refreshing dish.
A red wine can be perfect during evenings and along with some Ratatouille and some nice well aged and tasty cheese.


Ingredients :

- 1 Big Eggplant
- 2 Big Zucchini (one yellow, one green)
- 1 Big green pepper and 1 red
- 3 Tomatoes
- 2 Big Oignons
- 2 Ground garlic cloves
- 1 Bouquet garni (Thyme, rosemary and bay leaves)
- 1 botte de parsley
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper


Preparation :

It exists 2 different ways to make a fantastic Ratatouille.
For today, I'll let's cover the recipe whose cooking is made on the stove. 

- Wash and cut the zucchinis, eggplant and red and green pepper, into dices of medium size. Cut the tomatoes into quarter and finely mince the oignon.

- Into a pan, pour some olive oil and sear the vegetable ones after the others during 5 minutes each for them to take a nice color.
It is preferable to not mix the vegetable during the first cooking to keep their different taste.
Begin by cooking the pepper, then the eggplants and the zucchinis. 

- After the cooking of the vegetable, in one of the pan that you had rinced, brown the oignons with some salt and pepper. When they begin to take a nice coloration, add the tomatoes, reduce the temperature on low heat and gently stir.

- Add the bouquet garni, salt and pepper, cover and let it cook gently for 40 minutes while stiring regularly.

- 10 minutes before the end of the cooking, add the two garlic cloves that you ground just before. Then, cover again and let cook on low heat.


You can eat this Ratatouille warm or cold (cold is very refreshing and the vegetable are more tasty) with some toasted bread slices or as a side dish.

You can keep it 2 to 3 days in the fridge.