ratatouille

I finally recreated this ratatouille, the way the little chef mouse Remy in the hit animated movie of the same title made it : ) It was a special recipe that the famous chef, Thomas Keller, created for the movie. I did a simpler version of it sometime ago. I just cooked the cubed vegetables all together in a pot until tender, nothing fancy. This layered version was more time consuming to prepare but the result was worth it. For the sauce, fresh chopped tomatoes and onions were cooked together in olive oil and lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and herbes de provence. Half of it was spread evenly on a baking dish. Thinly sliced eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes were arranged alternately right on top of the tomato sauce. I forgot to buy the squash so, unfortunately, it was incomplete. Then the remaining sauce was poured on top of the vegetables. Cover with parchment paper or foil. Bake for an hour or until the vegetables are tender and the sauce is bubbly. Remove the cover during the last few minutes of cooking to slightly brown the top. As they say, simple dishes can be the most difficult to perfect and such was the case here. Next time, I have to make more tomato sauce to pour on top. Although it turned out quite good with a nice herbes de provence flavor, more tomato sauce is important for the vegetables to properly cook. I will also try to make this again in the springtime or summertime, the peak season for these vegetables.