RATATOUILLE CONFIT BYALDI

After watching the animated film Ratatouille, I, like many people before me I’m sure, hungered for the signature dish. The recipe that Remy makes in the movie is chef Thomas Keller’s layered version of the traditional dish, which is actually called Confit Byaldi, and was first prepared by the French chef Michel Guérard in the 70s. I looked it up online, and found Keller’s recipe as well as other people’s interpretations of it. One of the maxims in the movie is “follow the recipe,” which I totally intended to do, but due to both circumstance and accident, I did not completely. My grocery store carried neither fresh thyme, nor fresh-looking orange peppers, nor asian eggplants, so instead I used ground thyme, both halves of the yellow pepper, and a small white eggplant and the smaller end of a regular eggplant. I also misread the directions pertaining to the vinaigrette. Once a few liberties were taken, I took a few more, but the dish still turned out wonderful, so my version below shows how I did it. My store did have chervil, which is a more fragrant type of parsley, and which I highly recommend using to bring out a different flavor. The recipe isn’t too complicated, but it does take quite a big time commitment. You can make the piperade (the pepper-tomato mixture that goes in the bottom of the dish) a day in advance, but it still takes almost three hours to prepare and bake the vegetables. Highly worth it, though.

1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/2 orange bell pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 vidalia onion
7 roma tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon of ground thyme
2 tablespoons chervil leaves
bay leaf
salt
pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
one small zucchini
one japanese eggplant
one yellow squash

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. De-seed the bell pepper halves and place them on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down. Roast about 15 minutes until skin is wrinkled. Remove from heat. Using tongs, place the peppers in a paper bag and seal. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Remove from bag, being mindful of the steam. The skins should peel off easily.

To make the piperade, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-low heat. Chop the onion and cook it in the pan until softened. Shave one of the garlic gloves into small pieces, and add it to the pan. Chop 3 of the tomatoes into 1/4” cubes and add them, along with their juices, a 1/2 teaspoon of ground thyme, a tablespoon of chervil leaves, and the bay leaf. Simmer over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains. Add the bell peppers and simmer further until softened. Add a few dashes of salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool. Discard the bay leaf.

While the piperade is cooling, cut the zucchini, eggplant, summer squash, and the other four tomatoes into thin 1/16” slices. Set aside.

Pour the piperade into a food processor and pulse until it is chopped into tiny chunks, but not pureed. Spread the piperade in the bottom of an 8-inch oven-proof dish. Pre-heat the oven 325 degrees. Arrange the cut vegetables over the piperade, alternating colors and overlapping so that 1/4” of each slice is exposed and they form a spiral in the dish.

Mince another clove of garlic. In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, the minced garlic, another tablespoon of chervil leaves, 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme, and a dash or two of salt and pepper. Pour half of the vinaigrette over the vegetables, and save the rest. Cover the baking dish with foil, or cut a piece of parchment paper to size and cover. Bake for 2 hours. Uncover and heat under the broiler until the top is lightly browned.

To serve, lift out a portion with a spatula, turning it 90 degrees to keep the fan shape. Drizzle some of the remaining vinaigrette around it on the plate. Makes 4 servings.