I seem to be saying this quite regularly, but this seemingly long-winded recipe will produce just about the best ratatouille I have come across. The tomato fondue required is, in effect, a separate recipe that can be made in a large batch, as it keeps brilliantly. You can use it for many things: finishing risottos, mixing with pasta, spread on toast, perhaps with an egg, or even as a garnish with fish or sausages.

For the ratatouille, ensure that you pick the thyme leaves off the stalks, as they are not being cooked or removed, and the stalks are unpleasant to eat. This recipe uses only the outside of the aubergine, so use the remaining pulp to make a tasty purée: simply sweat some onions and garlic in olive oil, add the aubergine pulp, some thyme leaves and coriander seeds, then cook for 10-15 minutes, add a generous quantity of basil leaves and purée in a blender. This can be served hot or cold.

If you want to make the ratatouille any more than a few hours before eating it, do not add the fondue, as the acid in the tomatoes will discolour the other vegetables and the ratatouille will loose its sweetness.

TOMATO FONDUE

Makes 1 litre

2.5kg tomatoes (use the best quality available — it really will make a difference)
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
Salt
3 medium onions, finely chopped
1 star anise, broken into pieces
4 cloves
1 heaped tsp coriander seeds
250ml olive oil
A large bouquet garni, consisting of thyme, celery, leek, parsley and a bay leaf
A few drops of Worcestershire sauce
60ml good-quality sherry vinegar
A few drops of Tabasco
A little lemon zest, finely grated
1 dsp tomato ketchup (home-made if possible)

First, you need to peel and deseed the tomatoes. Using a small, sharp knife, make a cross on the bottom of the tomatoes and cut out the core, taking care not to remove too much of the tomato flesh. Bring a large pot of unsalted water to the boil and have a big bowl of cold water ready to one side. When the water boils, put in six tomatoes, count to 10, then lift them out and plunge into the cold water. Repeat until you have blanched all the tomatoes. When they have cooled, remove from the cold water and drain; you should now be able to peel them easily. The blanching time may vary a little, depending on the ripeness of the tomatoes.

Cut the peeled tomatoes in half vertically and, using a teaspoon, remove all the seeds. Place these in a sieve set over a bowl and leave to drain. Finely chop the tomato flesh and set aside in a bowl.

Next, purée the garlic (sprinkle a little table salt over the garlic and, using the flat side of the chopping knife, drag it backwards over the garlic until you have a smooth purée). In a heavy-bottomed casserole, sweat the onions, garlic and spices in the olive oil over a low heat for 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, the juice from the seeds, the bouquet garni and the Worcestershire sauce. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and leave to simmer for 30 minutes. Add the sherry vinegar, Tabasco, lemon zest and tomato ketchup. Cover the pan and leave on a low heat for at least three hours; check it occasionally to make sure the liquid is gently simmering and not burning.

When the fondue is ready, it will have a wonderful deep-red colour and become almost jam-like. Make sure that you remove the bouquet garni and spices before serving. It will keep in the fridge, covered in the oil until needed.

RATATOUILLE

Serves 4

3 medium aubergines
3 medium-to-large courgettes, as green as possible
Salt and pepper
1 head fennel
2 red peppers
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 tsp thyme leaves
About 250ml of tomato fondue
10 black olives, finely chopped
10 basil leaves, finely sliced
10 coriander seeds Oil from the tomato fondue

Top and tail the aubergines and the courgettes. Stand an aubergine upright and slice down each edge, removing the skin and about 3mm of flesh — no more. Do the same to the courgettes and the remaining aubergines. (Keep the leftover aubergine flesh and use it make aubergine purée as described above.) Make sure that you keep the aubergine and courgette slices separate, as they will not be cooked together. Trim the edges off each slice to turn them into a rectangular shape. Cut each rectangle into strips, 3mm wide, then bunch together the strips and cut across to give 3mm cubes. Set the courgette cubes to one side. Sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of salt over the aubergine cubes, place in a sieve set over a bowl, leave for 10 minutes, then rinse thoroughly under cold water; this will stop them absorbing too much oil.

Cut the top and bottom off the fennel, then remove the outer layer. As you separate the layers underneath, you will be left with V-shaped pieces of fennel. Cut these in half and trim them so that they are as near to rectangular as possible; slice off some of the flesh if it is too thick. Cut into 3mm cubes.

Preheat the grill. Top and tail the red peppers and remove the pith, seeds and any green. Cut the peppers in half lengthways. Rub with olive oil and place on the grill tray, skin side up. Put under the grill and cook until the skin is black all over; they will develop a lovely charred flavour. Once blackened, place in a bowl, cover tightly with clingfilm and leave for 5 minutes. You will then be able to peel them easily under cold running water. Once peeled, dice the flesh into pieces, the same size as the other vegetables.

Put a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl. Heat a frying pan large enough to hold the diced aubergine in one layer, adding enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan to a depth of about 2mm. When the oil is hot, but not smoking, add the aubergine, cook for 4 minutes, then tip the contents of the pan into the sieve to drain. Season with salt and pepper, and add ½ teaspoon of thyme leaves. When drained, tip the aubergines into a bowl, reserving the drained oil.

Using fresh olive oil, repeat the process with the courgettes, but over a slightly lower heat and frying for only 2 minutes, as they will continue to cook after being removed from the pan. Drain, season and add the thyme, as before.

Finally, repeat the process with the fennel, this time over a medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes. You do not want to undercook the fennel, as its crunchiness will dominate the dish. Drain as before.

To finish the dish, mix together all the vegetables with the tomato fondue and the chopped olives. Add the basil, the coriander seeds and the remaining thyme leaves. Finally, mix in the oil from the tomato fondue and the excess drained oil from the fried vegetables, season to taste and serve. If you want to eat the ratatouille hot, reheat it in a moderate oven for five minutes.