Ziti with ratatouille

1/2 cup olive oil
1 small yellow onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice
8 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1 medium eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small yellow and 1 small red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 3/4 inch dice
1 pound dried ziti
3 medium zucchini cut into 1/2 inch thick, quarter moon pieces
6 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped or two cans (28oz each) diced tomatoes, drained.
3/4 cups coarsely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 wedge parmesan cheese

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently till soft, about 10 min. Add the garlic and cook until the onion is golden and the garlic is fragrant, about 3 min. Transfer the onion mixture to a bowl being careful to remove all the garlic.
Add 4 tbsp of olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium heat. When hot, add the eggplant. Season with salt and pepper. Cook till just soft, about 10 min.
Using a slotted spoon transfer the eggplant to the bowl with the onions. Add 1 more tbsp of oil to the pan and when hot add the yellow and red bell peppers. Season them with salt. Cook stirring frequently, until they are soft, about 8 min. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the peppers to the bowl with the onions and eggplant.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta.
Add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil to the skillet and when hot, add the zucchini. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, 5-7 min. Using a slotted spoon transfer the zucchini to the bowl with the other vegetables.
Add the tomatoes, parsley, basil, and some salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium high and cook till hot, 4 min.
Add the vegetables and any liquid in the bowl to the tomato mixture and cook until warmed through, about 2 min. There should be quite a bit of liquid in the skillet.
Drain the pasta setting aside 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
Mix the pasta with the vegetables. If it is too thick, thiun with the cooking liquid.
Serve with parmesan

This was really good, but I have to say, it’s time consuming to make. Each of the vegetables is cooked separately, which they explain in the book as being a way to make sure each individual vegetable is cooked for just the right amount of time, and they are not too over crowded in the pan. Fair enough. It works and it’s tasty, I just thought I should warn you.

Also it says in the book that it feeds 4-6. Now I have some really big eaters in my house, but there is no way we were going to eat all of that. Maybe they meant feeds 4-6 twice. That’s fine because it says that the leftovers are good cold too.

This was really good and also very summer-y and it was from the book Food to Live By.