To serve 4 people
Ingredients
- 2 large aubergines
- 3 medium courgettes
- 2 medium onions
- 2 red or green peppers
- 4 large tomatoes or 14 oz (400g) tin of Italian tomatoes well drained
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil
- Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Preparation
If this dish is to look truly attractive, it must not look mushy. Do not therefore cut vegetables too small and drain the excess moisture from the courgettes and aubergines at the start of cooking.
- Wipe the aubergines and cut into 2.5cm slices then halve again
- Wipe and cut the courgettes into 2.5cm slices
- Put all of this in a colander, sprinkle generously with salt and press down with a suitable sized plate, weight the plate with any heavy object available and allow the stand for one hour. The salt removes excess moisture and bitterness
- Chop up the onions roughly
- Deseed, core and chop the peppers
- Skin the tomatoes by plunging them into boiling water for a couple of minutes, then quarter them and take out the seeds.
- Fry the onions and garlic gently in the oil in a large saucepan for 10 minutes than add the peppers
- Dry the aubergines and courgettes on kitchen roll and add to the pan
- Next add the basil and a seasoning of salt and pepper and stir once really well
- Cover and simmer very gently for 30 minutes
- Now add the roughly chopped tomato flesh and taste check for seasoning.
- Cook for further 15 minutes with lid off.
To serve
Serve hot as an accompanying vegetable dish or as a soup starter.
