Ratatouille frangourou style

What's not to love about ratatouille, with its colour and vibrancy, its robust flavours and its ease and rapidity of preparing and cooking? Here at our place we eat a lot of it at a time when the garden is full of ratatouille ingredients, but we never get sick of it, because there's so many ways you can vary it, just by putting in different herbs, or wine, or chilli(not traditional in Provence of course, but this is frangourou style!) Cooked in a wok or a frying pan, it's prepared, cooked and on the table in less than half an hour--and that includes picking the ingredients in the garden! We often team it with grilled meat--lamb or chicken particularly good with it--fresh bread to mop up the lovely juices, and a nice tangy, garlicky green salad.
Here are the basic ingredients(can be varied at will):
Onions, chopped (one is enough unless you're making a lot for several people. Red or brown onions fine.)
Garlic--at least three cloves, crushed
Tomatoes (small Romas preferably)
Zucchini and/or squash
Capsicum(red, yellow, green, your choice)
Eggplant(aubergines)--best  sliced and grilled first then set aside. Our eggplants don't need salting first as they are so fresh, but shop-bought ones need to be 'sweated' first by sprinkling slices with salt before grilling, then wiped to removed the bitter 'sweat' that comes off them.
Herbs: Basil, oregano, thyme, in any combination
Wine--white. I also use Tokay occasionally as its slight sweet taste enhances the tanginess somehow!
Chop the onions, fry in olive oil. Add one of the garlic cloves, stir. Add the zucchini/squash and the capsicum, then half the herbs, and a small splash wine, enough to give it a nice glaze. Stir, cook for two-three minutes. Add the tomatoes(cut in half), stir vigorously. add the rest of the garlic, stir.Add salt, pepper to taste. Chilli if you want to. In last minute or so, add the pre-grilled eggplant, then half the rest of herbs, then put into serving dish, sprinkle with remaining herbs, and serve!

What's not to love about ratatouille, with its colour and vibrancy, its robust flavours and its ease and rapidity of preparing and cooking? Here at our place we eat a lot of it at a time when the garden is full of ratatouille ingredients, but we never get sick of it, because there's so many ways you can vary it, just by putting in different herbs, or wine, or chilli(not traditional in Provence of course, but this is frangourou style!) Cooked in a wok or a frying pan, it's prepared, cooked and on the table in less than half an hour--and that includes picking the ingredients in the garden! We often team it with grilled meat--lamb or chicken particularly good with it--fresh bread to mop up the lovely juices, and a nice tangy, garlicky green salad.
Here are the basic ingredients(can be varied at will):
Onions, chopped (one is enough unless you're making a lot for several people. Red or brown onions fine.)
Garlic--at least three cloves, crushed
Tomatoes (small Romas preferably)
Zucchini and/or squash
Capsicum(red, yellow, green, your choice)
Eggplant(aubergines)--best  sliced and grilled first then set aside. Our eggplants don't need salting first as they are so fresh, but shop-bought ones need to be 'sweated' first by sprinkling slices with salt before grilling, then wiped to removed the bitter 'sweat' that comes off them.
Herbs: Basil, oregano, thyme, in any combination
Wine--white. I also use Tokay occasionally as its slight sweet taste enhances the tanginess somehow!
Chop the onions, fry in olive oil. Add one of the garlic cloves, stir. Add the zucchini/squash and the capsicum, then half the herbs, and a small splash wine, enough to give it a nice glaze. Stir, cook for two-three minutes. Add the tomatoes(cut in half), stir vigorously. add the rest of the garlic, stir.Add salt, pepper to taste. Chilli if you want to. In last minute or so, add the pre-grilled eggplant, then half the rest of herbs, then put into serving dish, sprinkle with remaining herbs, and serve!