Ciambotta also known as Giambotto or Cianfotto

I was served this in the Del Corso pizzeria in the Roman town of Capaccio-Paestum by a young chef Agostino Landi who is pushing the boundaries of Italian cuisine, taking traditional dishes but adding new ingredients. Ciambotta is an Italian ratatouille, the main difference being that potatoes are added to the summer vegetable bonanza, making it even more substantial as a meal.

In some versions all the vegetable are cooked separately and combined at the end with basil. It's up to you how you do it.

Tips: Use plenty of olive oil. Just have a bottle next to the pan and top up. I also salt the vegetables during cooking so it's hard to estimate exactly how much salt but aubergines and potatoes need plenty of salt in the cooking. I prefer to salt during cooking rather than afterwards.

Course: Main Course, Vegetarian main course, Vegetarian sides

Cuisine: Campania, Italian, Naples, Neopolitan

Keyword: Ciambotto, Giambotto, ratatouille

Servings: 4

Equipment

Deep frying pan

Ingredients

1 large red pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 large green pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 aubergines, 1 cm slices and cut into quarters or eighth, depending on circumference
2 large potatoes, peeled, chopped into 2 cm pieces
4 thick spring onions, white and green chopped into 2cm pieces(or 2 standard brown onions)
2 courgettes, cut lengthways in half then sliced into 1 cm pieces
Dozen cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters or the equivalent amount in larger tomatoes
1 tbsp sea salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
handful fresh basil leaves, torn, added at the end

Instructions

In a deep frying pan, fry all the vegetables in order of the ingredients list till soft and golden. Or fry them separately then combine. Add the fresh basil at the end.