|
Take a look over on the recipes thread on here. There's a few good ones on there - I know because I put some of them there.
A lot of the stuff I cook is a variation on a ratataouille theme:
One medium onion
Two courgettes (zucchini)
One large yellow pepper (it doesn;t have to be yellow, but it's aesthetically pleasing)
One can chopped tomatoes
Tomato puree
Garlic
Basil
Olive oil.
Chop the onion in half and then cut each half into quarters. Fry gently in about a tablespoon of olive oil until it starts going clear.
Cut the courgette into half-inch slices, and the pepper into similar size chunks. Add them to the onion with one or two finely chopped cloves of garlic (I'm going to treat you like an idiot for a moment, please excuse me for doing so - garlic comes as a bulb, each section of the bulb is a clove) and fry for a few minutes to soften them.
Add the tin of tomatoes and about a tablespoon of tomato puree and boil gently, stirring quite regularly. (If you fancy a slightly richer flavour, throw in a glass of red wine at this point.)
Tear about eight average-size basil leaves into smallish pieces. When you start to notice that the contents of the pan are starting to thicken, add the leaves to the mixture and stir them in. Leave the whole thing to keep simmering until it reaches a thickness that you like.
That's the basic recipe. I'll sometimes vary it by adding beans of some sort, or lentils, or mushrooms, or vegetarian sausages, or whatever else takes my fancy. You can also vary the recipe by adding finely chopped chilli, or chilli powder, instead of the basil. A warning if you chop chillis - wear a rubber or latex glove on the hand that is holding the chilli, and only use that hand to touch the chilli. Or you can add curry paste instead of the basil.
Serve with rice, pasta, couscous, sweet potato, or whatever else takes your fancy.
|