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A good friend of mine just e-mailed me the following, which purports to be the recipe for Remy's version of ratatouille from the movie! Since I'm not a big squash/zucchini fan, I probably won't attempt to make the recipe, but except for the presence of those vegetables, it really does sound delicious! I am providing it below, with all of the attributions and the copyright notice. (No, I have no idea who Thomas Keller is, but my guess is that he's a chef at one of the three restaurants that Pixar consulted in making the movie.)

"Here is Remy's ratatouille recipe, from the movie with the same
name as the dish, courtesy of Thomas Keller.

Unlike traditional ratatouilles, this recipe calls for layering
vegetables in a spiral on top of a piperade. You could also layer
the vegetables in stripes, if you find that easier.


CONFIT BYALDI (or, Remy's Ratatouille)

Start to finish: 3 1/2 hours, 1 hour active

Servings: 4

For the piperade (bottom layer):

1/2 red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 orange bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
3 tomatoes (about 12 ounces total weight),
peeled, seeded and finely diced, juices reserved
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 sprig flat-leaf parsley
1/2 a bay leaf
Kosher salt

For the vegetables:

1 medium zucchini (4 to 5 ounces)
sliced in 1/16-inch-thick rounds
1 Japanese eggplant (4 to 5 ounces)
sliced into 1/16-inch-thick rounds
1 yellow (summer) squash (4 to 5 ounces)
sliced into 1/16-inch-thick rounds
4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch-thick rounds
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Assorted fresh herbs (such as thyme flowers, chervil, thyme)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Special equipment: Oven-proof skillet

To make the piperade, preheat oven to 450 F.
Line a baking sheet with foil.

Place pepper halves on the baking sheet, cut side down.
Roast until the skins loosen, about 15 minutes.
Remove the peppers from the oven and let rest
until cool enough to handle.
Reduce the oven temperature to 275 F.

Peel the peppers and discard the skins.
Finely chop the peppers, then set aside.

In medium skillet over low heat, combine oil, garlic and onion
and saute until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley and bay leaf.
Bring to a simmer over low heat and cook until very soft
and little liquid remains, about 10 minutes. Do not brown.

Add the peppers and simmer to soften them. Discard the herbs,
then season to taste with salt.
Reserve a tablespoon of the mixture, then spread the remainder
over the bottom of an 8-inch oven-proof skillet.

To prepare the vegetables, you will arrange the sliced zucchini,
eggplant, squash and tomatoes over the piperade in the skillet.

Begin by arranging 8 alternating slices of vegetables
down the center, overlapping them so that 1/4 inch of each slice
is exposed.
This will be the center of the spiral.
Around the center strip, overlap the vegetables in a close spiral
that lets slices mound slightly toward center.
All vegetables may not be needed. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the garlic, oil and thyme,
then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle this over vegetables.

Cover the skillet with foil and crimp edges to seal well.
Bake until the vegetables are tender
when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours.
Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes.
(Lightly cover with foil if it starts to brown.)

If there is excess liquid in pan,
place it 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 F oven until warm.)

To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl whisk together
the reserved piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs,
and salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, heat the broiler and place skillet under it
until lightly browned.
Slice in quarters and lift very carefully onto plate
with an offset spatula.
Turn spatula 90 degrees as you set the food down,
gently fanning the food into fan shape.
Drizzle the vinaigrette around plate."

(Recipe adapted from Thomas Keller)

07/06/07 12:29 © Copyright The Associated Press.
All rights reserved.

Last night I went with esrblog and _shakati to see Pixar's latest effort, "Ratatouille."

It was the best Pixar effort I've seen since "The Incredibles." The script was great--heartwarming and wholesome without gooey moralism or pretension. The animation was beautiful. It had softly beautiful landscapes that were almost photographic in their realism without having the sharp edges of actual photographs. Most of the major characters were, well, rats, and they moved like real rats (which made some of the scenes where the hero's entire clan is shown from above look kind of creepy).

If the movie had a fault, it was the few bits of unnecessary ethnic humor ("Sorry if we're rude, but we're French!") and the odd manner in which our hero, Remy the culinarily talented rat, directs the behavior of Linguini, the red-haired boy who pretends to be the real chief, while Linguini is in the kitchen (he pulls locks of Linguini's hair, and thus makes his limbs move like the limbs of a puppet).

By the way, according to Wikipedia, ratatouille is a kind of vegetable stew from the Provençal area of France. Fortunately for your carnivorous friend here, the movie is much meatier than that. I recommend it for anyone wanting to have an uncomplicated good time.