Whenever I make Ratatouille, I think of Manuel's stricken face that his adored pet rat (Basil) was in the ratatouille - in fact I've just had to watch it on YouTube - glorious 1979 Fawlty Towers!! We've had a lot of heavy rain here in North Yorkshire today and the garden certainly needs it. The Jack be Little pumpkins are coming along nicely; they are snaking along a truss of string in front of the warm conservatory wall...
...the tomatoes are in wall troughs, again on a sunny wall - 'Tumbling Tom Red' (bush/hanging basket type tomato) which is always reliable and even more importantly tastes fab, and 'Ildi' a last minute sowing of some seeds I bought a couple of years ago at a show. They produce masses of tiny yellow, pear-shaped fruit - I've probably crammed too many in the troughs, but it works for me. I keep them well fed (twice weekly) and watered (daily)so they do just fine.
More courgettes too - hence the ratatouille - made with homegrown basil (poor Basil) , parsley and garlic. It tastes absolutely gorgeous, we had it with plain couscous made with butter and a glug of good quality extra virgin olive oil.
Recipe: Chop 3 onions and cook slowly in olive oil and a bit of butter for 5-10 mins, then add 4 chopped cloves of garlic, careful not to burn it. Add 3 large courgettes (chopped), one red pepper (chopped) and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-10 mins. Add approx 100ml of vegetable stock (I use Marigold Swiss Bouillon). Then add a handful of chopped parsley and basil, a spoonful of homemade chutney/red onion marmalade and 2 tins of supermarket Value chopped tomatoes. Simmer with the lid on for about 1 hour.
That's it! - cheap as anything and enough for the freezer too.
