Slowcooked Ratatouille

By EdieK

Ratatouille is delicious Provencal stew of eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and onions. This recipe is simmered for hours in the slow cooker so the flavour of every vegetable blends with the flavour of every other. You can eat it in a bowl with a big slice of crusty bread like soup, as a one dish meal with cheese melted on top, or a delicious pasta sauce.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped coarsely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Half a cup (125ml) white wine, water or broth
• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) tomato paste
• 1 green and 1 red pepper, chopped coarsely
• 1 med eggplant
• 2 small zucchini
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (28 0z or 798ml)
• Handful of black olives
• Large pinch of thyme
• 6 leaves fresh basil, torn into pieces
• Salt to taste
• Grated mozzarella cheese (when serving)

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 53mins
Adapted from therecord.com

Preparation

Step 1

Heat the oil on medium-high heat in a large frying pan. Throw in the onions and peppers, shake the pan to coat the vegetables with oil and fry a few minutes while you chop the garlic. You want the vegetables to be brown at the edges, but not burned.

When the vegetables are cooked, add the garlic and stir. Cook another minute, then stir in the wine, water or broth. The pan should sizzle. When that noise subsides, stir in the tomato paste and pour pan's contents into the slow cooker.

Coarsely chop the eggplant and zucchini into bit-size pieces and add to the slow-cooker on top of the other vegetables. Pour the tomatoes over everything. Throw on the olives if you are using them. Then sprinkle the thyme and tron basil leaves over everything.

Cover the slow-cooker and cook on low for about 8 hours. When ready to serve, stir carefully and taste. Add salt if needed. I add the remaining tomato paste at the end to thicken.