Margo’s Ratatouille

Margo’s Ratatouille

Margo’s Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a traditional French dish of stewed summer vegetables featuring eggplant, onions, peppers, zucchini, and tomatoes—perfectly seasoned with garlic and herbs. Enjoy Ratatouille as a main course or combine with rice. Bon appétit!
Ingredients:
• 1 eggplant, diced
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp Herbes de Provence or dried thyme
• 2 small zucchini, diced
• 2 cups fresh tomatoes or 14.5 OZ can, diced
At Home:
Peel the eggplant. Before dicing, cut the eggplant diagonally into half inch slices. Squeeze or press eggplant slices gently between paper towels to remove excess liquid which can taste slightly bitter. Dice eggplant and other vegetables into small pieces. If you were not planning to dehydrate this meal you would cut the vegetables into larger pieces.
In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the oil and sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic, peppers, fennel, bay leaves, and thyme or Herbes de Provence*, and sauté until peppers are soft.
*Herbes de Provence can be found in the spice section of most grocery stores and typically contains rosemary, marjoram, basil, bay leaf, and thyme. If you can't find it, just use thyme.
Add eggplant and sauté until it turns golden.
Add zucchini and sauté for another five minutes.
Add diced tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste, and turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until the tomatoes cook down.
Cool and put into a 1 gallon freezer bag and refrigerate overnight to allow the flavors to fully absorb into the vegetables. Then freeze it for the trail.