Simple Pork Ratatouille

Anne and I have been blessed with a lot of zucchini out of the garden this summer.  We have sliced it grilled it, roasted it, spiralized and sautéed it.  Anne made some kick ass zucchini fritters.  I wanted to do something different so I've been playing with a one pot ratatouille.  This was a third attempt.

If you don't know, ratatouille is really just a summer stew.  It can be served hot or cold.  Sometimes it's served in very ornate platters with uniformly sliced vegetables by a rodent, mine is diced in a light broth, and served warm / hot like traditional stews. No rats in my kitchen.

It's still a bit of a work in progress, but some friends asked for a copy of the recipe and it's far enough along that I'm comfortable sharing it.  There may be changes in the future. 

Some notes

• Eggplant is common in ratatouille and usually the main ingredient, however I seem to be developing an allergy to it (itchy throat, etc) so I cut it out of my diet.  Add it if you want.
• I was adapting from a recipe that called for 1/2 cup of white wine.  I often substitute chicken stock for white wine.  My quinquagenarian eyes saw 2 cups so I used that.  It made a nice, light broth, especially when I added the tomato paste. We liked so that's what I've been using ever since.  But if there is too much broth for you, scale it back.
•  I know the meat to veggie ratio is off (in favor of the veggies).  That's intentional  We like having left over veggies when I make dishes like this for a quick lunch or side dish.  I'd estimate 4-6 pork chops depending  on if you're serving a starch with the meal.
• It's a stew and to me a big part of stew is to use veggies is what we have too much of, or what's on the edge of spoiling.  That's how the corn got in there, we had two ears that were "use it or lose it".
• Anne has a large, deep skillet that I used for this.  A stock pot or dutch oven would also work well.  (Anne's pan won out because it would fit well in the dishwasher).

Ingredients 

• 3 slices pork loin
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, separated
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 large zucchini, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cauliflower
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• corn from 2 cobs, removed
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 4oz tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• Rosemary
• Thyme

Steps

1. Season the pork chops on both sides to taste with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.
2. Pour olive oil into pan, then fry pork chops on both sides until cooked through. Set aside.
3. Add olive oil and garlic. Stir until fragrant.
4. Combine zucchini, onion, tomato, cauliflower, corn and bell peppers.
5. Add chicken stock, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes.
6. Add the pork chops on the top of the vegetable mixture. Cook for 10 minutes, flip the chops 1/2 through.
7. Experiment, Be Bold, Share, Enjoy and  Commit Awesome!