Ratatouille

Ingredients

Piperade Inspired Sauce

• 1 yellow onion

• 1 zucchini

• 1 clove garlic

• 2 T tomato paste

• 1/4 c dry white wine

• 1 c cherry or vine tomatoes

• Olive Oil

• Thyme

• Salt and pepper to taste

Ratatouille:

• 1 Chinese or Japanese Eggplant

• 2 zucchini

• 2 yellow squashes

• 4-5 Roma tomatoes

First make the Piperade inspired sauce:

Dice the onion and one zucchini and set aside.

In a small pot, heat about a table spoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until slightly translucent and soft. Add teh zucchini and thyme. If you'd like to get fancier, add a knob of butter.

Tip: keep an eye on your thyme. You will need to fish it out later.

Once the onion and zucchini are soft, add 1 clove of garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and let cook for a few minutes. Add the fresh vine or cherry tomatoes into the pot and leave it alone until the tomatoes are soft.
Deglaze with a little white wine and let it simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes. It will cook down and thicken from here. If your sauce becomes a little too thick, add a little bit (maybe 1/4 - 1/2c) of vegetable broth.

Now's the time - fish out your thyme.
Take an immersion blender and blender your sauce until it is a fairly smooth consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you'd like, you can let it cook down a bit more on the stove.
Next time I make this, I will probably bake the sauce, uncovered, in a 250 degree oven for 45 minutes. More on this idea later.

Preheat the Oven to 375 F

Using a mandolin (and a lot of care), slice your squash, eggplant, zucchini, and roma tomatoes and set aside.

I used a knife on the eggplant and tomatoes for a cleaner cut.

Next, take the sauce you made and cover the bottom of your oven safe pan. Save about a 1/3 of a cup of your sauce for later.

Arrange your veggies in a pattern, working from the outside in. This takes a little bit of time, but totally worth it. Once you've finished arranging your veggies (take a picture!), drizzle some olive oil and fresh ground pepper over the top.

Cover the pan with parchment paper and put in the oven for 45 minutes or until the veggies are tender.

When serving, take the leftover sauce, whisk in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and pour/slather over the top of your ratatouille.

This recipe was adapted from Two Plaid Aprons. They also cite Thomas Keller as the innovator of this recipe and presentation.

Dinner... Ooh la la

Firstly, this turned out to be one of the most delicious moments of Sunday dinner last week. We gathered to celebrate a friend's milestone birthday before she took off for a fabulous vacation to France. Naturally, that served as our theme. This ratatouille was second only to the creme brûlée I served for dessert. More on that soon.

At first I was pretty intimidated by this dish. Being totally precise in the kitchen is definitely not my strong suit. As I sliced up the veggies (no injuries to report!), I felt excited to try and arrange all of the pieces in a pretty way. I feel like I nailed it. I made it the night before and stored it, covered, in the fridge over night. I put it back under the broiler this time, no parchment paper, and let it get some extra color before serving. I wish I had other pictures, but frankly, it was gone so fast, no one caught one.

If you go looking for a couple of other Ratatouille recipes Or Confit Byaldi (that's the Thomas Keller dish), the piperade sauce is traditionally made with bell peppers. Sadly, I can't eat bell peppers. The tomato and zucchini substitute was delicious and complemented the rest of the dish well. I would make that sauce again and use it on everything. We paired it with an Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc.

Needless to say, French dinner night or not, this one was a hit and totally worth the work. I will definitely make this again. No rats assisted in the process. If you're looking for some entertainment, do check out Ratatouille the TikTok musical from 2020. You won't be sorry about that either.

Assemble the Ratatouille