[Ratatouille] Magically Delicious Vegetable dish to please everybody

Did you also see the movie [Ratatouille] a few years ago, 2007 to be more accurate, and fall in love with Remy or Linguini, plus a traditional French Provençal vegetable dish called Ratatouille? At least that was my case. I fell in love with Remy and Ratatouille, and made it more than a couple of dozen times since then. 

I actually like country style version of a stewed vegetable dish more, but I happen to make the ratatouille of the movie version more often. Both ways are terrific. 

The word 'ratatouille' came from the French verb "touiller" which means to toss. 

Traditional ratatouille actually is made by 'tossing(frying)' vegetables in a large sauce pan.

I will post a traditional ratatouille dish, soon.

Even if it's almost 6-year-old movie, I'm not going to be a spoiler. :) 

But, just to show the part where ratatouille plays a big role, I captured a few scenes.

In the movie, a rat named Remy dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family’s wishes and the obvious problem of being a rat . 

When fate places Remy at a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. 

For Anton Ego, France's top restaurant critic, Remy creates a variation of ratatouille which brings back to an astonished Anton memories of his mother's cooking. 

This variation of ratatouille calls confit byaldi, created by French chef Michel Guérard. The name confit byaldi came from Turkish dish "Imam bayildi" which is more an eggplant dish.

It has been a few years that I've made this dish. But, I don't exactly remember where I got this recipe from.  :( 

I have to tell you that this is a terrific vegetable dish that can truly please everybody. Ratatouille is so amazingly delicious that you will be just so surprised. Believe me, you will not meet a vegan dish as tasty as this.

Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients (6-8 servings)

3-4 tomatoes

1 eggplant

1 zucchi

1 Red bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

2 onions

3-4 garlic cloves

1 tsHerbe de Provence

1-2 Tablespoon olive oil

Salt

Pepper

4 Tablespoons tomato paste

For the Vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Assorted fresh herbs (such as thyme and chervil)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon Piperade

Directions

1. (Piperade) preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

2. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place pepper halves on the baking sheet, cut side down. Roast until the skins loosen, about 15 minutes. Remove the peppers from the oven . Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

3. Peel the peppers and discard the skins. Finely chop the peppers; set aside.

4. In medium skillet over low heat, combine oil, garlic and onion and saute until very soft but not browned, about 8-10 minutes.

5. Add the diced tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook until very soft and little liquid remains, about 10 minutes.

6. Add the peppers and simmer to soften them. Discard the herbs, then season to taste with salt. Reserve a tablespoon of the mixture, then spread the remainder over the bottom of an 8-inch oven-proof skillet.

7. Slice vegetables

8. Spread the piperade in the oven proof plate

9. Arrange the sliced zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper and tomatoes over the piperade in the skillet, overlapping them so that 1/4 inch of each slice is exposed. 

10. In a small bowl, mix the garlic, oil and thyme, then season with salt and pepper to taste. 

11. Sprinkle this over vegetables. If there is excess liquid in pan, place it over medium heat on stove until reduced.

12. Cover the skillet with foil and crimp edges to seal well. Bake until the vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 1 hour. 

13. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes.  You need a little patience to make this 

14. To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl whisk together the reserved piperade, oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.

 15. Drizzle the vinaigrette around plate.

Ratatouille is a great side dish, but it also can be a wonderful main dish with rice or couscous.

Enjoy!

Ratatouille