Celebrate the fall market by making Provenςal Ratatouille. This particular recipe for ratatouille is one of my favorite almost-vegetarian dishes that can be part of any diet.
Directions
First make some pesto: Blend 4 garlic cloves minced, 2 cups basil leaves, 1/3 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper in a food processor. Add parmesan if you wish. As only 6 Tbsp is needed for the ratatouille, the rest can be used for pasta or frozen.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Cut one eggplant (about 1 lb) into 1" cubes. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt in a colander. After one hour, rinse and pat dry. Cut 2 leeks into 1" pieces, including some of the green stalk, after slicing lengthwise and rinsing.
Mince 3 cloves of garlic. Cut 2 zucchini (about 1 lb) into 1" pieces. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large sauté pan. Cook the leeks 5 minutes. Add zucchini and garlic and cook 3 more minutes. Dice 3 tomatoes. Stir in the tomatoes, 1/2 cup Niςoise or Kalamata olives, 6 Tbsp basil pesto, 6 anchovy fillets, reserved eggplant pieces and pepper to taste.
Transfer to an ovenproof casserole, cover, bake for 20 minutes, stir, and bake another 25 minutes.