Ratatouille

3 sprigs fresh thyme, or 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/4 pounds ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced (about 1/2 pound)
1 small green bell pepper, cut into strips about 1/2 inch wide
1 small red bell pepper, cut in strips about 1/2 inch wide
1/2 pound zucchini (3 small), cut in approximately 3/8-inch slices
3/4 pound thin eggplant (1 small eggplant)
3 large garlic cloves, mince
2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

     Wrap thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf in a piece of cheesecloth to make a bouquet garni.  (I actually don't make any garni bouquets -- I usually just ad about 2-3 teaspoons of Italian spices straight into the tomatoes while they stew... )  In a medium-size heavy saucepan or stew pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat.  Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and bouquet garni, and cook, stirring often, 20 minutes.  Remove bouquet garni (like I said, I usually just skip making a bouquet garni and just add Italian spices).
     In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over low heat.  Add onion and cook 5 minutes.  Add peppers and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, about 10 minutes.  Add zucchini, reduce heat to low, and cook about 5 minutes, or until barely tender.
     Peel eggplant and cut in 1/4-inch thick slices.  (I don't usually peel mine and I usually, the very first thing I do when preparing ratatouille is to cut and salt the eggplant pieces and let them sit on a dishcloth on the counter - even before I begin to cut and stew the tomatoes.  After they've been sitting with the salt on them for a while (20 minutes? - however long it takes for me to get the rest of the stuff ready - then I rinse them, dry them, and saute them as the recipe is about to explain.)  Cut any large slices in half.  In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat.  Add half the eggplant slices and saute about 2 minutes per side, or until just tender.  Repeat with another 2 tablespoons oil and remaining eggplant slices.
     Stir garlic into tomato mixture and transfer it to zucchini and pepper mixture, then add eggplant slices.  Mix very gently.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors.  Uncover, raise heat to medium-high, and cook about 5 minutes to evaporate excess liquid.  Mixture should be thick.  All vegetables should be tender; a few eggplant slices may be falling apart.  Stir in chopped basil. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Cool in pan, not in a bowl, so mixture says dry.