Dominique Loewenstein sent me this recipe and I'm going to use it right away. I worked with a farm family in Bulgaria about 12 years ago and the very best thing I was served while there was a dish they called Salsa Nita. It was full of the farm produce that was staple in their diets. They used it as sort of a condiment with meats. Domingue calls it Ratatouille, but I think it differs little from what I savored in that Baltic backwoods.
About 1 C olive oil
2 lbs onions, coarsely cut
2 lbs, elongated eggplant, thickly cut and cubed
2 lbs red/yellow/green sweet peppers, seeded, cut in squares
2 lbs tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely cut
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
Handful of coarse sea salt
Large bouquet garni (a bundle of herbs: thyme, bay leaf, parley stems, tied preferably in cheese cloth for easy removal at the end of cooking), including 3 bay leaves, several thyme sprigs
2 lbs small firm zucchini, cut in thick chunks
Freshly ground pepper
Fresh basil leaves
Warm the oil in an 8 -10 qt stockpot. Add onions, cook till softened, not colored, stirring with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Add the other vegetables, except the zucchini, in the order above. Add salt. Continue to stir till vegetables begin to release their juices then turn heat to medium till liquid boils, a total of 45 min to 1 hr since the onions were added.
Bury the bouquet garni in the vegs and turn heat down to maintain a bubbling simmer. Cover with lid ajar. After 30 min, add the zucchini, forcing it down. Simmer for another 45 min. to 1 hr, till vegs are meltingly tender.
Drain vegs of their juices (a good way is to pour them into a large colander set in a large pot, in several batches.) Bring juices to a boil then keep at a gentle boil for about 1 hr till dark and syrupy, stirring as needed.
Return vegs to their cooking pot, remove the bouquet garni and add reduced juices and stir to gently to coat vegs in juices. Pour out into a bowl/platter to cool Grind pepper over and add some of remaining oil. Tear basil leaves and scatter (only on the portion you are about to serve); tightly cover and refrigerate the remainder. Can be served hot with grilled meats or stirred into scrambled eggs.
Serves 10 - 12 (I tried this, it's GREAT!)