“If you are what you eat, I only want to eat the good stuff” – Remy the Rat
Ratatouille Season
If you squint, Ratatouille is practically indistinguishable from summer itself. It’s a dish you make when the tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini are all accumulating faster than you can use them. Thus, it is both a way of enjoying this abundance and also of dealing with it by preserving its components at their peak freshness. Those components are zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, onion, garlic and fresh herbs. Cooked together with olive oil and salt, these earthy treasures add up to something greater than the sum of their parts.
In Ratatouille the film, Remy the Rat made a similar point when attempting to give a lesson on food theory to his hapless brother. ““Each flavor is totally unique. But combine one flavor with another, and something new is created.”
So it is with ratatouille the dish, where the diverse flavors of the mature garden do amazing things to each other as they melt together in a brine of tomato juice and olive oil. The mushy eggplant and zucchini surrender their forms, as garlic and aromatic herbs permeate the whole business, and all of the garden flavors combine in your mouth as you chew. Each ingredient is at its best, thanks to the presence of the others.
That film has an extra-special place in my heart because I have a son named Remy, who like the film’s star happens to be a culinary genius as well. He’s seen the movie enough times to recite many of its scenes from memory, and more than enough times to be less than impressed by a recent batch of ratatouille I made, which did not glow like a rainbow as it did in the movie.
Remy’s criticism was understandable, as that batch was pretty chunky. But I had an excuse. It was, by design, destined to be a sauce batch, not built for looks. As soon as it cooled, I planned to liquify it into a pinkish orange slurry that does great on pasta, pizza, and on its own as a salmorejo-like soup. Liquified ratatouille freezes particularly well, and is arguably the most versatile and useful form of ratatouille. I assured Remy that when it came time to construct my masterpiece, a double-ratatouille lasagna, that I would use the mandolin and make perfect slices.
I call it Double Ratatouille Lasagna because it requires making two batches of ratatouille, a sauce batch like the aforementioned, and a batch with thin-sliced ratatouille components layered in with the noodles, sauce and cheeses, so it cooks into a fresh, second batch of ratatouille.
To my relief, Remy the human was impressed with my ratatouille lasagna. He marveled at its hybrid nature, being equal parts French and Italian cuisines. While double ratatouille lasagna is a way to enjoy the beautiful fleeting moments of summer, having ratatouille sauce in the freezer will allow you to make a damn good lasagna all winter long. And if that doesn’t capture the dual nature of summer — a time to enjoy the sunshine and squirrel some away for later use — I don’t know what does.
If you are what you eat, then this time of year I am ratatouille.
Ratatouille
Here is a recipe for the most ordinary, average form of ratatouille. Consider it a starting off point. I have listed the principal ingredients in equal parts, but the reality is you can use whatever you have, in whatever quantities you have. If you only have one eggplant, don’t put off the recipe or go shopping. Just make it with whatever is available. That is the true spirit of ratatouille.
Ingredients
3 cups zucchini slices
3 cups eggplant slices
3 cups tomato, sliced or chopped
1 large onion, minced
1 large bulb of garlic, peeled and sliced
Fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary
1 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons of salt
Process
Preheat the oven to 350. Layer the ingredients in a deep dish pan, alternating so it’s more of a mixture than stratifications. Add the salt and olive oil, cover with foil or a tight fitting lid and bake for 90 minutes. You can leave it in the oven to stay warm for hours until it’s time to eat.
That’s the essence of ratatouille. Whether you made perfect slices or sloppy chunks, the flavor will be threshold of summer.
Liquid Ratatouille
Make a batch of ratatouille, heavy on the tomatoes if possible. Let it cool and liquify it in the blender.
If you want the smoothest sauce possible, peel the eggplant and zucchini prior to cooking.
This sauce will last at least until the following summer frozen in freezer bags.
To serve liquid ratatouille as a salmorejo-like soup, mix it with some heavy cream or serve with a dollop of creme fraiche. Garnish with chives, basil or parsley.
Double Ratatouille Lasagna
In winter when fresh ratatouille ingredients are not available, you can make a simpler version of this lasagna by skipping the raw vegetables and simply layering in sauce, lasagna noodles and cheese. It’s almost as good; still completely amazing.
Ingredients
Liquid Ratatouille
Lasagna noodles
Ricotta cheese
Grated mozarella cheese
Sliced ratatouille ingredients: zucchini, eggplant, tomato, onion, garlic, herbs
Process
Preheat oven to 350.
Ladle enough sauce into a deep baking dish to cover the bottom. Then add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. Then, another layer of sauce, followed by a layer of ricotta, and layers of ratatouille ingredients, followed by a layer of mozzarella cheese, and another layer of sauce. Repeat this as many times as your ingredient quantities and pan depth allow.
Cover and bake for 90 minutes. Remove the cover for the final 15 minutes to melt and slightly brown the cheese on top. Allow to cool and solidify, and serve while still warm.
