Sometimes I think food is too beautiful to eat. I felt that way a lot in Paris. Particularly in chocolate shops and bakeries.
Sometimes food is art. And I just feel weird about eating art. You know?
But then I do it anyway. Food is art. Delicious, delicious, art.
I really worried that I’d have a food/art quandary when it came to this ratatouille.
The colors!
The spirals!
But then I put it in the oven for the better part of a Sunday evening and it smelled so good that I dug in immediately and burned the roof of my mouth.
It was worth it. Don’t worry.
Single Skillet Ratatouille
recipe slightly adapted from Eat This Poem
Red Pepper Sauce
- 1/2 yellow pepper, diced
- 1/2 orange pepper, diced
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 1 14.5-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
- Salt and peper to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 bay leaves
Ratatouille
- 1 large or 2 small Italian eggplants
- 1 large zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 large yellow squash, sliced into thin rounds
- 4 to 5 roma tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Line a baking sheet with foil, and preheat the oven to 450 F. Place peppers cut-side down on the baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Pinch skins to remove, and chop.
Reduce the oven temperature to 275 F.
Add olive oil to a large (10 inch) cast iron skillet and warm over low heat. Saute onion and garlic until onions are translucent. Add undrained tomatoes, chopped pepper, thyme, and bay leaf to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper, then simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Then puree in a blender until completely smooth. Pour into the skillet, but reserve 1/4 cup of sauce.
Beginning on the outside edge, arrange eggplant, zucchini, and Roma tomatoes neatly in the skillet, let them overlap so that 1/4 inch of each slice remains exposed. When the skillet is full, drizzle the entire dish with olive oil and sprinkle with additional thyme.
Cover pan with foil and bake for 2 hours. Uncover and cook for 30 additional minutes.
Whisk 1 tablespoon of oil with balsamic vinegar and reserved sauce to form a vinaigrette. Drizzle overtop of ratatouille before serving.
