Ah thank you, I'm really pleased you enjoyed it!

(Thanks for not saying it was a dumb question!)

So I finally got to try it, and it was great. Such an excellent and easy recipe! The fennel is a stroke of genius.

Thank you for asking! I just edited the instructions to clarify that as it's not clear. Flavour is always best if the onion and garlic are sauteed first so I recommend doing it if you have time. Use a large oven-proof pot then when they are done, add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and transfer it to the oven.

Thanks!

I am a person who loves her protein, so I added some bland tofu (not pressed) to give some more. Additionally, I added some good chili powder. I let the recipe simmer for another 20 minutes and it turned out amazing!

I would add this to some kind of rice or pasta. I want to test it with edamame pasta one night.

I personally wouldn't add cloves to ratatouille but you could if you wanted to. Just go easy as it's pretty powerful.
I'm not a fan of cloves with tomato-ey dishes myself. They are quite strong and in this will take away from the fennel flavour which is really lovely. I sometimes add chilli though, fresh or dried. Hope that helps!