Rat-a-tat-tat-tooey-pa-tootie-da-licious
And there was much rejoicing!
Ever since I saw Ratatouille I have longed to find their recipe for the ratatouille dish they serve. I have many cookbooks with "a" recipe, but they do not look anything like the movie. One recipe, I realized I had even made before but it looks like the dish that Ego ate as a child, not like Remy served. In theory, it looked simple enough I could've made it up, but I really wanted to be sure and I really wanted it to taste as delicious as the movie made it look.
And there was much rejoicing!
The kids then checked out a Ratatouille Movie Cookbook from the library and they have been making recipes from it all week. It too had a ratatouille recipe but it was no different than the other versions I have, only less ingredients since it is a kid's cookbook. The boys said that if I made the recipe just like the movie they would eat it... they had to eat their words and almost some ratatouille too.
I found a guy online who claims he had THE recipe they use in the movie. I don't know HOW he knows this is THE recipe but I couldn't find it anywhere else in my short search so I went for it...
It is definitely not as fancy as the perfect one they can create with computer animation... my eggplant, squash, zucchini, and tomatoes were not all magically the same diameter and I did not make the actual vinaigrette suggested because of time... but OH MY! It was delicious!
How did the kids like it? Well, they were not all excited to it eat and I was prepared to have them try it... that is, before I tried it. Once I tried it, I did not want them to eat any of it, I wanted to enjoy it all myself.
Oh, how this recipe had all of my favorite ingredients.
Oh, how the simplicity made taking seconds and thirds a delight.
Oh, how the colors heightened the taste.
Oh, how my head was swooning for spring and the garden.
Oh, how I cannot wait to make this recipe again!
Did I really follow the recipe? Well, ok, you know me... I did change the recipe and cheat on some things, BUT in essence it was the same and it was absolutely delicious! (How'd I cheat? Take for example the Piperade. I used a cup of a really nice brand of pre-made roasted pepper and herb sauce since when I added up all the time it would take me to make this dish I was looking at a 4+ hour project for dinner! Yikes! But, I do have extras of everything and think on Sunday I will make the piperade from scratch as suggested to see what that adds.)
So... here's the address of the guy who claims his recipe is THE recipe. If you find another one that sounds and, more importantly, tastes better... please let me know!
http://www.crotonblog.com/archives/2007/07/17/
cooking_with_the_lunch_lady/remys_ratatouille_recipe/
Oh that is SO exciting! I should make this for Luke sometime! It sounds fabulous! He might be more receptive than the kids were... thanks for sharing this delightful treat!
You should totally try it! If you could actually find Japanese eggplants then the diameters should match better. I just cut a regular eggplant in half and used the semi-circles. I also would recommend cutting the eggplant slices and salting them and then laying them flat at an angle to "sweat" for an hour and then wipe off the bitter juices. (Something the recipe didn't say to do, but I think always helps when dealing with eggplant.) Have fun making it!
Dana, do you mean you are thinking of bringing this to house church? :) It sounds DEE-licious!
I was just referring to our Sunday brunch as a family but now that you mentioned it, bringing it as a lasagna dish sans pasta would be great! I am totally doing it next time we do lasagna! :)!