Frugal French Friday: Easy Ratatouille

It's ratatouille time! It's ratatouille time!

Who doesn't love this classic Niçoise dish, made with eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers and tomatoes? It's great with pasta, rice, a baguette and even an omelet. I've paired it with potatoes, too.

It requires some preparation, but once the slicing and dicing is over, this stove-top version is done in one hour.

Which was great for me. Because I'm finishing up some projects at the office and tying up loose ends, I'm short of time just now.

That does not stop me from eating well and eating locally. I'm proud to say that 99 percent of this dish was made with locally-grown ingredients. Olive oil is not produced in northern Wisconsin or Upper Michigan.

The vegetables come from the farm market and the herbs and one of the peppers are from my own garden. Generally I prefer to serve my ratatouille over rice from the Camargue, but I had none so I served it as a side dish with this tarte.

If you read French, you may find this link fun to read. Here's another ratatouille option, and yet another one that I absolutely adore and drool on my keyboard every time I look at it. Here is another beautiful post that has the same effect on me.

Cost: The total cost of this dish was approximately $8, since I bought everything at the farm market. I managed four servings out of it so that's only $2 per person per meal. Serving it over rice adds only pennies. Ratatouille is one of the best bargains around, and it's comfort food, too.

Wine pairing: A Cotes de Rhone or a Roija are generally recommended with ratatouille.