Name: This Year's Ratatouille Recipe
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 8 to 12
Ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil; 2 large onions, thinly sliced; 7 small zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch dice; 2 tablespoons finely minced garlic; 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt; 1 red bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch squares; 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch squares; 1 green bell pepper, cut into 3/4-inch squares; 2 pounds Roma tomatoes, seeded, cut into 3/4-inch chunks; 3 bay leaves; 2 teaspoons dried thyme; Dried red pepper flakes; 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice; 1 to 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar; 1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1/3 cup mixed minced fresh herbs, such as basil, parsley, chives, oregano

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By Abby Mandel

Oct. 18, 2000

Ratatouille is the treasure of the fall harvest. This Provencal vegetable stew is remarkably alluring and versatile.

Its recipe is not etched in stone. You can double the zucchini if you have a lot of it, or if eggplant isn’t a favorite, or vice versa. In fact, there’s no end of possible variations. Just taste it as you go so that the seasoning and tomato content can be tweaked as needed.

Serve it as a side dish with meat, poultry or seafood, then use the leftovers to make other dishes: a ratatouille omelet, say, or polenta or baked potato topped with ratatouille, a ratatouille “caviar” spread, ratatouille topped with bruschetta or ratatouille casserole made with rice, cooked ground beef or lamb.