If Minestrone and Ratatouille Had a Baby, It Would Be This: Italian Vegetable Stew

My out-of-control cookbook shelf(s) contains at least 9 vegetarian cookbooks, not including all of Anna's, because I'm avowed meat eater who aspires to be healthier. Most of the vegetarian recipes I've come across feel like entirely too much work for a weeknight, as they often: 

• include multiple recipes in the actual recipe in an effort to make something look easier than it actually is, (I'm looking at you, "Tofu with Broccoli and Spicy Peanut Sauce"), or 
• leave me hungry afterwards (I'm looking at you, "Tofu with Broccoli and Spicy Peanut Sauce"), or
• want me to substitute a fake meat for actual meat, which violates House Rule #1: No food pretending to be other food. This rules out a lot of tofu recipes for us (veggie crumbles generally contain gluten so they're right out anyway). 

If your experience has been different, please send me your recipes and I'll be delighted to try them. 

House Rule #1 has helped us avoid a lot of sadness in our gluten-free existence, as we're rarely tempted by such "treats" as frozen gluten-free doughnuts (which will never measure up to the real thing and just leave us noticing the difference). The solution to this - in both vegetarian and gluten-free cooking - has been finding ethnic recipes that don't want the offending ingredient in the first place. Naturally this leads us to Asia and the Middle East quite often. 

This baby looks nothing like minestrone or ratatouille

On occasion, however, we land solidly in Europe, as with this Italian dish that tastes like what would happen if minestrone and ratatouille had a baby. There are a fair number of steps in this recipe but nothing is actually difficult or time-consuming; this is something you can easily accomplish on a weeknight. And since the colder weather doesn't seem to be finished with us quite yet, it would also be lovely on a gloomy, rainy, cold day like today. 

Adapted very slightly from The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen, my favorite obsessive people in the whole world. They will cook every possible variation of a dish so you don't have to (see any given cookie recipe if you don't believe me) and their food is invariably foolproof and delicious. 

Ciambotta (Italian Vegetable Stew)

PESTO

1/3 cup fresh basil
1/3 cup fresh oregano (or a tablespoon dried, if you can't find fresh oregano at 3 grocery stores) 
6 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 

STEW

1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
salt
1/4 cup olive oil 
1 large onion, chopped
1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 1/4 cups water 
1 28-oz can stewed tomatoes 
2 zucchini, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
2 bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
1 cup shredded fresh basil (optional but probably delicious) 

Toss the eggplant with 1 1/2 tsp salt. Place it on a large plate covered with paper towels or coffee filters and microwave 8-12 minutes or until it's slightly shriveled, tossing halfway through.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven. Add the eggplant, onion, and potatoes and cook until the eggplant is slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Push the vegetables to the  side of the pot and add 1 tablespoon oil plus the tomato paste and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Allegedly this will form a brown crust on the bottom of the pot but it didn't for me; if it works for you, that's great. You'll deglaze the pan in the next step. 

Stir in 2 cups water and the tomatoes and scape up any brown bits. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until the eggplant is completely broken down, about 25 minutes. 

Heat the remaining tablespoon oil in a skillet. Add the zucchini, bell peppers, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the vegetables start to soften, about 10 minutes. 

Meanwhile, put all the pesto into a food processor and process until it's well-blended. If you're using the dried oregano, stir it in after you've processed everything. 

Push the vegetables to the side of skillet and add the pesto. Cook and stir about 1 minute. Stir the pesto into the vegetables. Put the mixture into a bowl (if you use the same one you used for tossing the eggplant with the salt, it's one less bowl to wash). 

Off heat, add the rest of the water to the skillet and scape up the browned bits, if any. 

Stir the zucchini mixture and water into the Dutch oven. Cover and let stand 20 minutes so the flavors blend. Stir in the rest of the basil, if using, then salt to taste and serve.