Summer is when the plants we thought would never grow more than 2 inches give us full grown eggplant, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes. With these, plus cuttings from the happy herb garden, we can make ratatouille.
Cut a large eggplant into rounds, yielding seven to a dozen that are 1/2 inch thick. Cut a large zucchini into rounds of similar thickness. Salt them both and let sit while you move on to other vegetables.
Dip in boiling water and peel about 8 plum tomatoes (you can use cherry tomatoes with no need to peel them, or others but you want to have about 2 cups total). You can seed and remove the juice from the tomatoes if using Roma plum tomatoes for a more concentrated tomato taste.
You’ll notice there is no need to be exact about the proportions.
Sauté an onion, chopped. Add about a cup of sliced peppers in about 1/4 cup of olive oil. Green or red pepper would be fine, but we happen to have mild New Mexico chili peppers that add favor but little heat and they are perfect for this dish. Add a sprig of rosemary or marjoram (you can decide what smells right) and let the vegetables soften.
Heat a flat bottomed pan on the BBQ and add olive oil. If the summer is hot and you don’t want to sauté the onion and vegetables inside, a paella pan or wok will work on the BBQ for those. Let them idle on low while you brown the eggplant and zucchini. Brown each round individually until toasted on each side. If the slices are large and you don’t want the eater to need a knife, feel free to cut them to bite size after they are browned
When they are done, add them to the sautéd vegetables. When all are added, pour over them all chopped pulp of tomatoes. And heat through until everything is warm. At this time you can eat the dish or put it in the fridge for another day.
We served it with quinoa. As a main with quinoa, it serves 4. Julia Child suggests using it as a side with lamb chops.