I can't ever be reasonable and grow one variety of a vegetable. So I have 15 eggplants in one of my raised beds right now and there are 7 different kinds growing. I love eggplant but that's a bit much. In order to get rid of some of it, I decided to try a recipe for crockpot ratatouille I found online.
Ratatouille in the Crock Pot
8 servings
2 large onions, cut in half and sliced
1 large eggplant, sliced, cut in 2 inch pieces
4 small zucchini, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 large green bell peppers, de-seeded and cut into thin strips
2 large tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
red pepper flakes, to spice it up
Layer half the vegetables in a large crock pot in the following order: onion, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, green peppers, tomatoes.
Next sprinkle half the basil, oregano, sugar, parsley, salt and pepper on the veggies.
Dot with half of the tomato paste.
Repeat layering process with remaining vegetables, spices and tomato paste.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours.
Place in serving bowl and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Refrigerate to store.
May freeze up to 6 weeks.
I used several smaller japanese eggplants and red peppers instead of green ones. All of the veggies were from the garden with the exception of the zucchini. I bought those at the farmers market. The tomato paste wasn't local (I've got some frozen tomatoes from last year that I think I'll use to make some) nor was the olive oil or any of the dried herbs. I have those fresh herbs but I'm trying to use up some spices I have already. I cooked it yesterday but because we didn't put enough tomato paste in, it was kind of liquidy. I'm cooking it down a little more today. I'll let you know how it turns out.