Delicious, Healthy, Beautiful Ratatouille

There are few things I love more than a great Disney movie, but a delicious meal that shares its name with a Disney movie takes the cake.

Ratatouille (the dish, not the adorable rat made famous by the movie) is a French Provencal vegetable stew that is as versatile as it is tasty. Perfect as a side dish or a light main, Ratatouille is a great way to use up a surplus of veggies from a late summer garden or an overzealous trip to the farmers market :)
I like to eat mine alone with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top, or as a chunky and wonderful pasta sauce. Most recently, we ate it as a perfect side dish to sauteed shrimp.....yummmmmm.

My Ratatouille recipe is from my amazingly culinarily gifted mom... my passion for cooking and baking came from her, she is a genius in the kitchen and this is just one of her mouthwatering creations.

Recipe

1 small eggplant, cubed
1 red onion, diced
1 red pepper, cubed
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 zucchini, cubed
2 shallots, sliced
3/4c good red wine (she says to pour yourself a glass or two while the Ratatouille cooks)
salt
pepper
2 tomatoes, rough chopped
1 28 oz can stewed italian tomatoes (If you have a ton of good summer fresh tomatoes you can forget the canned tomatoes and substitute fresh for canned.)
herbs - lots!! (This is a typical mom ingredient. She has an amazing garden with more herbs that you could ever use in a summer... when making Ratatouille she goes out with her snippers and cuts herbs from whichever plants speak to her, basil, oregano, thyme, parsley.... Just add a cup or so (chopped) of a combination of these fresh herbs and you'll be fine..... heavy on the basil)

Preheat oven to 350

Cut the eggplant, drizzle with olive oil and dust with salt and pepper. Roast eggplant until golden brown, remove from oven and set aside.

In a large sauce pan (I always use my enameled sauce pan, and find that it works perfectly) over medium high heat, add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the garlic, red pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant and saute for around 15 minutes.
Turn the heat down to medium low and add the stewed tomatoes, wine, shallots, salt, pepper and herbs.
Cook slowly for 1 hour or more. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Like most stews, this recipe is even better the next day. Also, separated into servings, Ratatouille freezes beautifully allowing you to hold onto those delicious summer flavors for a little longer :)