Ratatouille a la Remy

Pixar commissioned commissioned the famous chef Thomas Keller to create an amazing ratatouille recipe for them to 'use' in their film Ratatouille. This recipe is what Remy makes at the end of the film. To make it easier to get the vegetables sliced thinly, I recommend using a mandoline. If you want to get fancy with the spices, this recipe can also be called Confit Byaldi. As for me, I just call it delicious.

Entrees

Prep: 45 min
Cook: 3 hours
Total: 3 hours 45 min
Serves 4 to 6

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Pepper-Tomato Sauce (Piperade)
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
Cut peppers in half, wash out seeds and remove ribs.
Place peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast until skins have loosened, about 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ small yellow onion, finely diced
Heat oil in a skillet over low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until very soft, but not browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3 tomatoes (12 ounces total)
Cut tomatoes in half and scoop out pulp into a small bowl. Dice tomatoes and reserve in a small bowl.
Drain tomato juice from reserved pulp into small bowl with diced tomatoes. Discard pulp.
1 bay leaf
Add tomatoes, reserved juices, and bay leaf to skillet with onions. Simmer over low heat.
reserved peppers
While tomatoes cook, peel and finely chop roasted peppers.
Add peppers to skillet and simmer until soft and only a small amount of liquid remains, about 10 minutes. Tomatoes and onions should not brown.
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
Season with salt and remove bay leaf.
Reserve one tablespoon of the sauce and spread the remainder in bottom of a round casserole dish.
Vegetables
Reduce oven temperature to 275°F.
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 Japanese eggplant
4 Roma tomatoes
Using a mandoline or sharp knife, slice vegetables into 1/16-inch rounds, reserving each vegetable in a small bowl.
Down center of pan, arrange a strip of 8 alternating slices of vegetables over piperade, overlapping so that ¼ inch of each slice is exposed. Around the center strip, overlap vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. Repeat until pan is filled; not all vegetables may be needed.
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Mix garlic, oil, salt, thyme, and pepper in a small bowl. Drizzle evenly over vegetables.
Cover pan with foil and crimp edges to seal well.
Bake until vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.
If there is excess liquid in pan, place over medium heat on stove until reduced. At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.
Vinaigrette
reserved piperade
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.
Combine reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, thyme, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Serving
To serve, very carefully lift desired portion onto plate with an offset spatula and either align vegetables in a row or gently turn to fan them out onto plate. Drizzle vinaigrette around plate. Serve hot.

From MakeBetterFood.com. Sep 17, 2012. (makebetterfood.com/recipes/ratatouille-a-la-remy/). Adapted from The New York Times. (June 13, 2007.)

MakeBetterFood.com

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Cut peppers in half, wash out seeds and remove ribs.
Place peppers on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast until skins have loosened, about 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Heat oil in a skillet over low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until very soft, but not browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Cut tomatoes in half and scoop out pulp into a small bowl. Dice tomatoes and reserve in a small bowl.
Drain tomato juice from reserved pulp into small bowl with diced tomatoes. Discard pulp.
Add tomatoes, reserved juices, and bay leaf to skillet with onions. Simmer over low heat.
While tomatoes cook, peel and finely chop roasted peppers.
Add peppers to skillet and simmer until soft and only a small amount of liquid remains, about 10 minutes. Tomatoes and onions should not brown.
Season with salt and remove bay leaf.
Reserve one tablespoon of the sauce and spread the remainder in bottom of a round casserole dish.
Reduce oven temperature to 275°F.
Using a mandoline or sharp knife, slice vegetables into 1/16-inch rounds, reserving each vegetable in a small bowl.
Down center of pan, arrange a strip of 8 alternating slices of vegetables over piperade, overlapping so that ¼ inch of each slice is exposed. Around the center strip, overlap vegetables in a close spiral that lets slices mound slightly toward center. Repeat until pan is filled; not all vegetables may be needed.
Mix garlic, oil, salt, thyme, and pepper in a small bowl. Drizzle evenly over vegetables.
Cover pan with foil and crimp edges to seal well.
Bake until vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.
If there is excess liquid in pan, place over medium heat on stove until reduced. At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350-degree oven until warm.
Combine reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, thyme, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
To serve, very carefully lift desired portion onto plate with an offset spatula and either align vegetables in a row or gently turn to fan them out onto plate. Drizzle vinaigrette around plate. Serve hot.