Pork Roast with Ratatouille in the Slow Cooker

Initially I was going to prepare this recipe in my large, heavy Dutch oven. But the 5.6 pound bone-in pork butt would not fit in the Dutch oven with large chunky vegetables. So, I prepped everything in a large stainless steel skillet and then transferred it all to a large oval slow cooker. For the ratatouille, I used a large Asian eggplant I bought at the small Asian Market on Riverside in Mount Vernon. Plus, I added the last medium size zucchini from our garden.

Ingredients

Pork roast

Garlic cloves, 4 to 6

Salt and pepper

Eggplant, 1 medium to large

Zucchini, 1 medium

Onion, 1 medium

Preparation

Heat the slow cooker, on a high setting. Peel the garlic and cut into large wedges. On one side of the roast, insert the tip of a sharp knife to make an opening large enough for the garlic. Push the garlic into the roast. Heat up a large skillet. Place the roast into the skillet, browning each side. Remove and place in the slow cooker. Cut the vegetables onto chunky pieces. Put in the skillet and cook just enough for the onion to brown a bit. Remove and place around the roast in the slow cooker. Place the lid on and slow cook for 5 hours on the high setting. As the dinner hour nears, change the setting to low.