[Nonrecipe #6] Unruly Ratatouille
Because who has time to layer veggies in neat circles?
When it comes to ratatouille, you might picture the vibrant visual of three-colored layers from the Pixar animation, but that’s a recent trend. Originally, ratatouille is a humble and casual French dish, made like a stew with a variety of summer vegetables. Even in the animation, ratatouille was called ‘peasant food’. I keep that humble spirit alive and make it even simpler, in my own style.
The ingredients for my minimalist Unruly Ratatouille today include the usual eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and bell peppers seasoned only with salt and olive oil.
How I Make It:
Make a tomato sauce substitute: Roughly smash fresh tomatoes and mix with a pinch of salt and some olive oil. I used Amoroso tomatoes here as they’re larger than cherry tomatoes but smaller than regular tomatoes, with a beautiful color and rich flavor. (No need to puree them finely, as they will break down like a sauce when heated in the pan.)
Heat olive oil in a pan and lightly sauté the sliced eggplant and zucchini, then add the bell peppers and cook a bit more.
Add the tomato sauce substitute prepared earlier, cover with a lid, and let it simmer. (If it feels too thick at the start, you can add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water, but don’t add too much since the vegetables will release plenty of liquid as they cook.)
When the vegetables are cooked through and the liquid begins to reduce, place a whole fresh Amoroso tomato in the center and arrange a few slices of eggplant and zucchini from the pan around it as a topping. (I did this just for fun to add a bit of visual flair, but it’s completely optional.)
You can’t get a better detox meal than this!
Meanwhile, let me share a bit of background on how the three-colored layered presentation (typically alternating slices of eggplant, zucchini, and tomato) became the key visual for ‘modern-day’ ratatouille. Chef Thomas Keller participated in the making of the Pixar animation as a culinary consultant and prepared a fancy layered version of ratatouille called confit byaldi for the movie. Roughly speaking, this particular style of ratatouille has been trending since the success of the Pixar movie, even though confit byaldi already existed as a refined version of the traditional dish.
Chef Thomas Keller Consults on Pixar Film Ratatouille | Portland Food & Drink (2007)
Hope you enjoyed my minimalist take on ‘old’ ratatouille, along with the story related to the trendier version.
See you next weekend!