Everything from the summer harvest, cooked down to its essential, collective, deliciousness.
Ingredients:
½+ cup olive oil
1 head garlic, minced or pressed
3 onions, chopped
3 peppers:
3 cups homemade roasted tomato sauce (or approximately 4 pounds of fresh tomatoes, chopped, lightly roasted and pureed)
2 zucchinis
1 large or 2 medium eggplants
Small handful of fresh thyme and basil, to taste
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.
Add onions and garlic, along with some salt and cook slowly, stirring occasionally so that they do not brown. Turn heat to low and continue cooking until they are limp and tender, about 30 minutes.
Core and chop peppers and place in a blender or processor to puree. Add pepper mixture to onions. Stir occasionally as it continues to cook down (approximately another 30 or more minutes).
Add 3 cups roasted tomatoes or any good homemade tomato sauce to your onion and pepper mixture. Add more salt and pepper, to taste. Bring briefly to a boil and then let simmer for another 45 minutes or so. Stir occasionally.
Wash and chop basil and thyme. (A generous handful of basil leaves and a couple tablespoons of thyme is a good starting point, but more or less depending on personal taste.) Set aside.
While the sauce cooks down, preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Slice zucchinis and eggplant into discs, approximately ¼ inch thick. Toss with remaining ¼+ cup of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread out on 2 large baking pans lined with parchment paper and roast for about 30 minutes, flipping half way through. (The roasting intensifies the flavor of the vegetables and begins to caramelize them.) Remove from oven and add to onion-pepper-tomato mixture along with chopped basil and thyme. Stir gently.
Delicious served with thick slices of good bread, garlic bread, chunks of goat cheese and/or roasted sausage.
