Tourlou tourlou - Greek ratatouille

Tourlou - tourlou is one of these dishes one cannot stop eating! It's so rich in taste and colorful that everyone loves it. Its name means "mixed up" and basically that's what you do - you mix various vegetables into this delicious combination. I didn't know tourlou before I came to Greece - in Poland we make a vegetable stew dishes, but with completely different spicing and ingredients, so it was a very pleasant surprise for me and my taste buds. 

When I was doing a research about it, I found two ways of making it - one calls for a pot and you braise vegetables on a medium heat and the other one is made in the oven on a deep baking pan. Personally I like it made in a pot, as I'm getting more of the delicious juices this way and I just love to dip my bread in it. 

Tourlou is perfect comfort food and easy to make, it also gets better in time! So grab a big pot and make enough to enjoy it next day as well!

INGREDIENTS:

• 3-4 eggplants
• 3-4 zucchini
• 2 onions
• 3 bell paprikas (I like to use different colors - red, green and yellow)
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• salt, pepper
• 500ml tomato paste or crushed fresh tomatoes
• olive oil
• water

First - cut eggplants into slices, sprinkle them with a lot of salt and set aside for 15-20 minutes to get rid of their bitterness.

Peel potatoes and cut them into 3-4 cm cubes, put them in a big pot, sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano. Preheat a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Cut onions into halves, slice them and fry for few minutes until they're semi-transparent. Put them in a pot with potatoes, add salt and oregano. 

The secret of good tourlou - tourlou lies in the pre-frying eggplants. It adds a special "something" to the taste. So, wash your eggplants with cold water and then fry them until golden- brown - you can do it on a pan or simply in the oven - it saves the time. Add fried eggplants to the pot and sprinkle with spices. 

Cut paprikas into small pieces and fry it for few minutes on the same pan you did onions, then add it into pot. Cut zucchinis into slices (do not peel it) and fry on a pan for about 5 minutes. Add crushed garlic, mix it and fry for 2-3 more minutes. Add to the pot with the rest of vegetables.

Pour tomato paste or add crushed tomatoes, add enough water to almost cover everything and mix it gently with a spoon. Add extra salt, pepper & oregano. Cook on medium heat for about an hour or until potatoes are fully cooked.
Serve warm, with feta cheese and fresh bread on the side or with rice.

Bon appetite!