Ratatouille

12 servings makes about 4.5 litres
1.6 kg tomato700 g
1 Eggplant cut into 1/2 inch cubes salt to taste
500 g  zucchini
700 g bell pepper
1 kg onion
6 cloves garlic
Herbes de Provence (basilic,thyme, parsley)
olive oil
salt, pepper
140 g tomato paste


1. Cut the eggplant into rondelles; keep separate. Peel the zucchini, cut into rondelles, keep separate. Clean the bell pepper, cut into small strips, keep separate. Chop the onion, keep separate.
2. Peel, de-seed and drain the tomatoes
3. Using four separate cooking pots, put some olive oil in the bottom; put in the eggplant, zucchini, pepper, and onion into their own pots; sprinkle some flour onto the eggplant and onto the zucchini. Put the four pots on to cook slowly. Each cooks for about 30 minutes, but test and cook each until correctly soft.
4. In a large cooking pot with a thick bottom, put in olive oil, chopped garlic, herbes de Provence. Squeeze the tomatoes in by hand. Cook slowly until you have a thick tomato sauce.
5. Add the four separately cooked vegetables to the tomato sauce, mix thoroughly and heat. Pour off the excess oil from the top. It's ready to serve