Ratatouille as Made in Ratatouille

1 small can San Marzano tomatoes
eggplant
zucchini
yellow squash
onion
fresh thymes
salt and pepper
EVOO

Preheat oven to 325.

Pour tomatoes into bottom of a round baking dish and gently squish them up with your hands. Watch out for shooting tomato juice!

Add some fresh thyme, oregano and salt and pepper to the tomatoes.
Cut the ends off the eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash. Cut one end off the onion and peel back first layer.

I used a mandoline to slice the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and onion into very thin slices. You can use a knife but be prepared to spend a lot of time cutting. The mandoline also ensures the slices are the same width.
 
Alternate overlapping slices of eggplant, zucchini, and squash along the outer rim. Every so often slip in an onion slice.

Make another circle inside and then fill in the middle with a few veggies.
Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and season again with salt and pepper. Top with more thyme.

Cover dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside. I just placed the dish on top of the parchment paper and drew around the dish. Makes it easy to cut to fit the inside of the dish.
 
I wanted to save this and reheat the next day so I only baked it for 40 minutes. If you want to serve immediately, bake for about 55 minutes. You want the veggies tender, not mushy.

I had a bunch of veggies left over and just threw them in a pot with a small can of diced tomatoes. Cooked for a bout 15 minutes and then let it cool.

I put that in a container and decided to freeze it for use later in minestrone soup or a pasta sauce.

Spicy Eggplant

Don't go to the grocery store hungry! Do go to the local farm hungry!

I stopped by Spicknall's on the way home and loaded up my canvas bags with a bounty of brightly colored fruits and veggies. Here's what I did with a few of them ... (note that while it is contrary to my typical style, I will try to be more exact with ingredients as I have a sense that it matters in this dish).

(Mini Eggplant)

Roast 3 small eggplants with EVOO and S&P at 375 until soft. Scoop out innards and set aside.

Boil one small potato and set aside. I used a potato left over from another meal.

Heat about 2 TBL ghee in a saucepan.
Add about 6 peppercorns and about 6 corriander seeds.
After about four minutes, crush them with a heavy spoon or pestle.

(Galangal)

(Cowhorn Pepper)

Add a medium piece of galangal and about an inch of cowhorn pepper.

Add one small onion and three small cloves of garlic - both diced.

Add three good shakes of fenugreek, five shakes of garam masala, and one shake of turmeric.

Cook until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute,

Dice half of a green tomato and add to the saucepan. Cook for another 3-5 minutes.

Run a knife through the eggplant and add to the saucepan.

Dice potato and add to saucepan.

Remove cowhorn pepper and galanga.

Add a little water if it looks dry.

Add a few shakes of salt - I used a very fine grey sea salt.

Heat through and enjoy alone or with rice or naan.