This is the ratatouille they make in the movie ratatouille or at least my interpretation of it. It looks so good in the movie so I watched the scene over and over and researched some old french recipes to come up with this simplified recipe.
And it totally works 🙂
Anton Ego is taken back to his childhood memories when he tastes the ratatouille and I also feel that this very harmonic combination of summer vegetable flavors is something quite special.
It’s the thin slices that let you have a little bit of everything with every single bite as well as cooking the vegetables above this indulgent sauce (traditionally called ‘pipage’) that make it taste so balanced.
Ratatouille Ratatouille
A firework of flavours - just like in the movie ratatouile 🙂
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
Sauce (piperade)
- 2 bell peppers (red and orange)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- pinch salt
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 dl white wine
- 1/2 cube vegetable stock
- 1 dl water
Vegetables
- 1 green zucchini
- 1 yellow zucchini
- 1 finger aubergine or other thin one to match the diameter of the zucchini
- 3 long hard tomatoes for example san marzano or peretti
- pinch salt
- pinch pepper
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Wash, deseed and roughly cut the bell pepper. The pieces do not need to be small since it's blended later. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the peppers along with sliced garlic and a pinch of salt. Fry on medium heat until fragrant and the skins of the peppers start turn brighter because of the heat. Pay attention that the garlic does not turn brown else the whole dish will be bitterish.
- Add the wine, water and 1/2 stock cube to the peppers and simmer for about 15 minutes on medium low. The peppers should have softened and some liquid should remain in the pan. Pour into a blender and mix until very smooth.
- Cut the vegetables into thin (1mm thick) slices with a sharp mandolin or a sharp knife.
- Preheat the oven to 135°C. Pour the bell pepper sauce (piperade) into the bottom of a large baking dish (mine was an oval 22x19 dish). Arrange the vegetable slices on top tightly and alternatingly. Drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and fresh thyme.
- Cut a parchment paper (baking paper) to the size of the dish and lay it over the vegetables. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the paper and bake for another 30 minutes.
- Serve stacked on a plate with drizzled sauce from the bottom, a sprinkle of olive oil and fresh parsley.
