Ratatouille
Ratatouille is possibly one of the most well-known French dishes, thanks to the movies. Also possibly one of the most aesthetic dishes of all time, with all the colors and alternating rounds of vegetables. It looks incredibly complicated, but it's actually not as difficult to make as it seems. It does take a while to prepare, but much of it is passive time and slicing is a breeze with a mandolin. Delicious and a great party dish!
Active Time: 1 hr
Total Time: 2 hr
Ingredients
> eggplant (1)
> yellow squash (1)
> zucchini (1)
> roma tomato (2-3)
Sauce:
> onion (1/2, diced)
> garlic (2 cloves, minced)
> red bell pepper (1/2, diced)
> yellow bell pepper (1/2, diced)
> canned crushed tomatoes (1/2 can, 14 oz)
> basil (8 leaves, chopped)
> salt, pepper, olive oil
Herb oil:
> basil (8 leaves, chopped)
> garlic (1 clove, minced)
> parsley (2 tbsp, chopped)
> thyme (1 tsp)
> salt, pepper, olive oil
Instructions
1. Making the sauce: using a ~10-inch heavy bottom deep pan or dutch oven, saute the onion, garlic, red bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper for ~10 minutes over medium heat. Season well with salt + pepper. Add the canned tomatoes and stir for a minute or two. Remove from the heat and add in basil. Smooth out the sauce into a flat surface.
2. Using a mandolin, slice the eggplant, squash, zucchini, and tomato as thin as possible, ~1-2mm thick.
3. Alternating eggplant, squash, zucchini, and tomato, stack the vegetables over the sauce, rotating around the pot until the entire surface is covered. Season a bit with salt + pepper.
4. Make the herb oil by mixing together all the ingredients. Spoon / drizzle the herb oil over the vegetables.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes at 375F. Uncover, and continue baking for 20 minutes.
6. Serve and enjoy!
Notes/Tips:
> The ingredient amounts should be just about right for a 10-inch pot. For a larger/smaller pot, adjust accordingly.
> Feel free to purchase whatever squash / eggplants that you find at the market! For this picture, I used eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, green squash, and tomato.
> When arranging the vegetables, try to pick pieces which are similar in size next to each other, whenever possible. You'll want there to be a tiny bit peeking out of each piece, but they should be arranged densely and relatively close to each other.
> Tomatoes lack the structural integrity of the other vegetables and can be difficult to slice. Consider using a slightly thicker setting for the tomatoes (and using slightly more) if slicing the tomatoes is difficult.