On Sunday, in honor of the movie Ratatouille, Sarah posted a nice round up of ratatouille recipes from around the web. The next day, Deb from Smitten Kitchen, posted her own recipe for the dish, this one inspired directly by the ratatouille that Remy the rat created onscreen. Deb's version called to me, since it used the same layer technique that those Pixar magicians had made look so appealing. I deviated from Deb's recipe in three minor ways. I used a chopped fresh tomato instead of sauce (I had one that was on it's way out that needed to be cooked), I skipped the red pepper (because I forgot to buy one) and I used a deep pie plate (instead of her oval baking dish). With the help of my mandoline, I thin-sliced green and yellow zucchini and a petite eggplant. The layering was fun, like creating an edible sculpture. I used some toothpicks to keep the parchment paper in place, because the heat of the oven threatened to blow it around if I left it unsecured. After an 45 minutes at 375 degrees, the veggies were cooked but not limp, and the chopped tomatoes had relaxed into fresh, garlicky sauce. It turned out to be some of the best ratatouille I've ever had, thanks to Remy (aka Thomas Keller) and Deb.
photo by Marisa McClellan
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