Grill and skin three bell peppers – red, green and yellow (or you can skip this step and buy a jar of grilled red peppers). Cut into strips and set aside.

Cut 1kg of tomatoes in half lengthwise, gut them (reserving the seeds and the liquid), and place cut side down on a baking sheet, drizzled with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and a bit of sugar. Bake for around 45 minutes in an oven set to 150°C. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, place the reserved liquid and seeds in a sieve set over a bowl, and using the back of a spoon, push through as much of the liquid as you can. Discard the seeds and place the liquid in a small saucepan; gently reduce to half its volume. Turn off the heat and set aside in the saucepan.

Dice 3 medium-sized aubergines into bite-sized pieces, and fry in some rapeseed oil in a large pan set to a medium-high heat till the aubergine pieces are soft and golden. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Cut 3 medium-sized yellow courgettes in half lengthwise and then into half moons. Place in a pan, along with a drizzle of rapeseed oil, and fry on a high heat until golden. Add to the aubergine pieces and set aside.

Fry 3 onions, finely chopped in some olive oil in the same pan until soft and translucent. They shouldn’t colour. Add 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, and cook, stirring into the onion for one minute.

Chop the tomatoes into pieces and add to the onion mixture, along with the juices collected at the bottom of the pan, as well as the reduced tomato liquid from the saucepan.

Add the reserved peppers, aubergine, and courgettes, and stir well. Season with salt and pepper and a sprinkling of herbes de Provence (or substitute with dried oregano, thyme and rosemary). Cover and cook for 10 minutes. 

Turn off the heat and add 1 – 3 tbs sherry vinegar (to taste), and a dozen pitted black olives, cut into slices.

Notes on preparation: You can either make ratatouille the easy way (everything in the oven at the same time, or you can make it this way. The difference is that each vegetable is cooked optimally individually before coming together.

You can really customise the vegetables, reducing or increasing the quantities depending on your glut of vegetables.

How to serve: This dish really benefits from resting overnight (or longer), to allow the flavours to meld together. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with rice, hot or at room temperature. You can also stir in some cooked cannellini or borlotti beans and warm through.