To start off, my grandma lives down in southern France, just in the mountains in between Aix en Provence and Avignon, in the very heart of Provence. When she makes her Ratatouille it changes a little bit every time, depending on which vegetables are available, but I will give you the rough basics and you can change it if you prefer other flavors or like some better than others. The basic ingredients are, however, these (and in my opinion, they should never be left out for it to be called a ratatouille). The quantity may vary though, so use your head. If you want to make it for a dinner, I suggest you make it one day in advance, that way you can get all the flavors out really well, plus you can taste it and try your own way:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1-3 courgettes/zucchinis (all depending on size, there should be about 4 cups of chopped courgette) in quite big, half moon shaped pieces.
  • 1 big yellow onion, in thin boats
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic (rather a bit too much than too little, it will cook and be sweet and delightful)
  • 1 bell pepper of each color (if you have to skip one, skip the green one)
  • 1 aubergine (slice it in rather thin slices, mix with plenty of salt, put to press under something heavy to get rid of the excess water)
  • 2 small cans tomatoes (these can be either fresh or canned, if you use canned, you use a bit less, if you use fresh you have to remove the peel and calculate the excess water into the equation, my advice, use canned)

Free use of following:

  • Bay leaf
  • Thyme
  • Rosemary
  • Oregano
  • Sage
  • Pepper
  • Sugar or honey
  • Olive oil
  • Vegetable bouillon (cubes)

Instructions:

Do the aubergine at first. It’s a good idea to do them an hour or so in advance, since the more time they have, the less excess water they contain.

Start with chopping everything, then pour about a 1/4 cup of olive oil in a quite big pan (rather have too much space than too little). Add the garlic and the onions and let them sauté without getting brown, just golden. Add the aubergines (which have had most of the excess water squeezed out of them) and let them get golden. Add the bell peppers and finally the courgettes. Let it all sauté, still try to avoid getting them more than golden.

Add the herbs.

Pour tomatoes over it all, stir.

Cook until the veggies are soft, but not too squishy. Taste often. Try not to add water - the taste is better if it’s a bit more concentrated. Add bouillon cubes if it needs more salt rather than actually using salt (as it gives you more flavor and a rounder taste). Remember that the aubergines will give off a lot of salt so be careful.

A pinch of sugar or honey (or other sweetener that you might prefer) might be needed as the tomatoes can be quite sour, add it little by little and try.

Make sure to stir often as tomatoes easily stick to the pan.

Serve as it is with some bread (preferably French sourdough) and maybe some cheese (may I suggest goat cheese?). It’s also good to eat with grilled meat as a side dish.