Name: Slow-Cooker Italian Vegetable Stew
Total time: 6 h
Ingredients: 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving; 1 pound eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces; 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained with juice reserved, chopped; 1 onion, chopped fine; 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or ¾ teaspoon dried; 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth, plus extra as needed; 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces; 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1 inch thick; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil; Salt and pepper; grated Parmesan cheese

Why This Recipe Works

Creating any vegetable stew in the slow cooker requires a few tricks so that the vegetables remain bright and flavorful. For this Italian-inspired stew we found that we needed to brown the eggplant first to keep it from becoming soggy and wan-tasting in the final stew. And since we had our skillet out already, we added more oil to it and browned the chopped tomatoes, along with a little tomato paste and the aromatics and oregano, which gave them a deeper flavor. The potatoes cooked perfectly in this stew, but we needed to add the zucchini at the end to ensure that it remained green and crisp-tender.

Instructions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Brown eggplant lightly on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in now-empty skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add tomatoes, onion, and bell pepper and cook until dry and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1 cup broth, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.

Stir remaining 2 cups broth, reserved tomato juice, and potatoes into slow cooker, cover, and cook until vegetables are tender, 8 to 9 hours on low or 5 to 6 hours on high.

Stir zucchini into stew, cover, and cook on high until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Adjust consistency with extra hot broth as needed. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, drizzling individual portions with extra oil and passing Parmesan separately.