This is probably my favorite recipe in the world. I got it from my French host mother. It’s delicious, and the great thing about it is that you can’t mess it up if you halfway follow the directions. Start with good, fresh, flavorful vegetables, and the end product will be divine.
Ingredients
- at least ½ (large) bottle of olive oil
- 2 eggplants, thinly sliced (0.5cm or ¼in.)
- 1 white onion, halved and sliced
- 5 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and cut into eighths
- 4 zucchini, sliced
- 1 large red bell pepper, sliced and thirded
- finely chopped garlic, as much as you want (2-3 cloves is probably normal, but I use more)
- 2-3 dried bay leaves
Instructions
Cover the bottom of a pot with olive oil and heat it on medium. When the oil is warm and shimmery, lay eggplant slices in a single layer in the bottom of the pot and let them soak up oil until they are yellow (darkened) and soft, 3-4 min. Remove the treated slices to a plate and add more to the pot. Add more olive oil as it is drunk by the eggplant.
When all the eggplant has been treated with olive oil, add the onion to the pot and cook it until slightly golden. Now add all the ingredients to the pot and cook it over a medium/low heat for two hours, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are soft and melt in the mouth.
Maggie says:
Now there's a concept. I'm always trying to get the eggplant to absorb as little oil as possible. Maybe that's the wrong philosophy. You don't drain them?
Laurabelle says:
Nope, no draining involved at all. The olive oil is what really makes it all mush together and gives the dish a lovely rich moist flavor. Otherwise it'd be kind of watery and a little flat-tasting, I think.
Of course it's got a huge amount of fat in it, but I wouldn't worry too much about that, as long as you're not drinking olive oil or anything. And in any case it's good healthy vegetable fat.
Mmm, I really must make that again, before fresh-vegetable season is over. But not tonight. Tonight is chicken-fried steak night, with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.