Remy's Ratatouille
Man, I have been MIA for a while! Thanksgiving was absolutely nuts, and I ate more than my fair share of high-GI foods. Weirdly enough, I had gotten so used to going without it, that all the bread and pie and cake and stuffing made me feel kinda sick and really sleepy (NO, it wasn't the turkey!). I also had a pretty killer headache for a while, and I think it's from all of the foods I wasn't used to eating anymore. It was definitely confirmation that this new diet is the healthiest thing for me right now.
I was watching one of my favorite Disney movies the other day, Ratatouille, and I always wind up so wowed by all the beautiful dishes that Remy creates. I know, he's a cartoon rat, but seriously everything looks so yummy! I'm always especially floored by his version of ratatouille that is served at the very end of the film. I've had ratatouille before, but always as a peasant stew with chunks of veggies. It's good, no doubt, but there's something about the delicateness of this particular dish that takes it from a comfort food to something really special.
Here's what you'll need:
1/2 pint of grape tomatoes. Or any tomatoes, it doesn't really matter
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
1-2 red bell peppers (I sliced two but only used one. A bigger chafing dish would use more of them)
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
salt and pepper
olive oil
parchment paper
You can also add in eggplant like the traditional dish requires, but eggplant's gross so I left it out. If you do use eggplant, I'd advise just using one, and try to find the Italian eggplant in your grocer's produce section - they're smaller and will give slices similar in size to the squash and zucchini.
Preheat your oven to 375F. Toss the tomatoes in a blender and puree them.
This was round one. I had to add more tomatoes. This is about a third of a pint. I wound up using half of the pint before I was happy with the amount of puree.
Pour the pureed tomatoes into the bottom of an oval chafing dish. I don't have one, so I just used a 9" round pan. Just make sure it's round. I tried this in a square dish - bad idea. You can't layer veggies in concentric circles in a square. You can try, but don't. Trust me.
Next, slice your garlic into paper-thin slices. Thin slices is the name of the game here, people. With the exception of the onion, everything will be thinly sliced.
Mmmm, garlic. My favorite!
Dice your shallot. You can use a regular onion, but why would you? Shallots are delicious!
I got bored with dicing, but I think next time I'll dice the onions a little finer.
Dump your onions and garlic into the tomato puree, drizzle on about a tablespoon of olive oil and mix it up.
Pre-mixing. There is no post-mixing picture. Use your imagination.
OK, for the veggies, we need them pretty thin. If you don't have a mandolin slicer, you need a really sharp knife without a serrated edge.
First, the peppers. Carefully remove the stem and the seeds with it by cutting around the stem. Remember in old cartoons where one character would cut through the ceiling right where the other character was standing? That's pretty much what we're doing. Pretend you're Roadrunner and the core of your pepper is Wile E. Coyote. Or, if you never had a childhood, ignore me.
Slice off the top, but leave the bottom for some stability when slicing (especially if you're doing this with a paring knife).
Slice the pepper really thinly, discarding the bottom when you get there.
I wish I could have gotten these a lot thinner, to be honest. Either way, they were delicious!
Next the zucchini and squash. Same deal. As thin as you can slice them while still leaving them whole.
Pretty colors :)
Alright, now layer all of them in concentric circles starting at the outside of your dish. I had to cut my pepper slices in quarters, unfortunately, because they were just so much bigger than the other two veggies.
Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, add some fresh thyme (remove by running your hand along the sprig in the opposite direction of the way the leaves are growing), and drizzle on another tablespoon or so of olive oil. Cover the dish with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit. The easiest way was for me to put the dish on top of a piece of parchment paper, trace it, and then cut it out.
Let them cook for about 45-55 minutes while you catch up on last night's Glee and swoon over Darren Criss. You can't tell me I'm alone there! He's so pretty!
When the veggies are tender, but not yet brown on the edges, and the tomato sauce is bubbling up the sides and through the veggies, it's done.
How delicious does that look?!
I served mine in a neat little stack topped with some fresh goat cheese and a sprig of thyme.
Confession: plating this made me feel like a contestant on Top Chef. If only...
I just love all of the bright colors in this version of ratatouille. It was a little involved, but definitely worth the effort. I have so much left over, too! I think I'll bring it to my friends and share the love :)
Happy cooking!
















