Ratatouille

I'm sure you've all seen the Disney/Pixar Animation, Ratatouille, featuring the master chef and rat, Remy and the clueless restaurant heir, Alfredo Linguini. At the end of the movie, Remy prepares a classic French dish and wins over a notoriously harsh food critic's heart. What Remy the rat served?The Provençal French stewed vegetable dish, ratatouille. I never was too intrigued in trying this dish until I traveled abroad in Haute-Savoie, the French Alps. 

My host family in Veyrier du Lac cooked dinner every night, and about a half of the produce we ate came from fresh their own garden. One summer night, I finally tried a homemade ratatouille. I remember it being a tomato and olive oil based stew with lots of squashes and eggplant. I had it over rice, and it was perfect. It easily became my favorite dish; it was good fresh and even better the next day for lunch. 

When I came home to New York, I attempted making ratatouille several times. It was never the same, but this recipe comes pretty close. My host family didn't prepare their ratatouille in layers, and cut their vegetables in more cube-like forms, but I found this method to be carry out the flavor better.

Ratatouille

3-4 small tomatoes

1 large onion

1 eggplant

1 squash

1 zucchini 

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 tsp Herbes de Provence (or Thyme, Sage, Oregano, Basil) 

Salt

1. First, cut all the vegetables into thin slices.

2. Heat up the skillet and sautee the onions with two tablespoons of olive oil.
3. Layer all the tomatoes on top season with ~1/4 salt, turn the heat to medium/low and cover the pan so that the tomatoes stew. After 30-40 minutes, the tomatoes will be more of a sauce than distinct tomato slices.
4. Then layer on the squash and zucchini along with seasoning and ~1/4 tsp salt, cook with the cover on for another 15 minutes
5. Layer on the eggplant, top with a 1-2 tbsp of olive oil. Allow to simmer with the lid on for another 30 minutes, or until desired consistency of vegetables