I have childhood memories of asking my mother if ratatouille contains rats, which probably meant that she had to talk me into eating it. No more. While cruising Epicurious yesterday night looking for heathy and satisfying dinner inspiration, I happened across this recipe, written by the Culinary Institute of America’s Associate Dean of Restaurant Education, Chef Lou Jones. I realized that besides seeing the adorable Pixar movie, it had been a very long time since I had indulged in this simple, fresh, and amazing dish.

The recipe begins by roasting zuchini, yellow, red, (and for economic reasons, I also included) green peppers, eggplant, a halved head of garlic, and a par-boiled bulb of fennel. You must rub each of these in olive oil with your hands before placing them on a baking sheet.

Be sure to get the olive oil into the grooves in the head of garlic as well. Wrap the bottom in foil, leaving the top exposed, before placing it in the oven.

This recipe features it’s own sauce, which I highly recommend making. It is custom-brewed with fresh thyme and marjoram, which really makes this dish special. You may as well make the sauce while you are waiting for the veggies to roast. Go on… just do it!

After about 35 minutes, your vegetables should be ready to come out of the oven. They will look shrunken and the skins will have begun to brown.

Place the peppers in a large bowl and seal it tightly with foil to help loosen the skins. Allow the rest of the vegetables to rest for about 10 minutes (or at least until they are cool enough to handle).

As soon as you can touch the vegetables, move them to a cutting board for preparation.

Remove the seeds from the zucchini, remove the seeds and peel the skin from the peppers, and core the fennel, then chop everything into very small pieces, as uniform as you can get them.

Place all of the chopped vegetables into a pot. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the pot and add the sauce. Simmer for approximately 10 minutes until there is almost no liquid. Finish with more fresh herbs, balsalmic vinegar, olive oil, salt and black pepper. This recipe makes a lot more than just the two of us could eat, so happily I will be enjoying this at work for the next few days. It is a delicious and vegan way to detox after the holidays (or for a pre-New Year’s cleanse).

Ratatouille
Epicurious |  November 2008 by Chef Lou Jones 

For Ratatouille:

1 bulb fennel, stalks discarded

3 red bell peppers, pierced with tip of knife

3 yellow bell peppers, pierced with tip of knife

2 medium zucchini, quartered

1 medium eggplant, quartered

About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 head garlic

2 cups tomato sauce (see below for recipe)

1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh marjoram, chopped

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

For Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1 small red bell pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup dry white wine

2 sprigs fresh marjoram

3 sprigs fresh thyme

6 whole leaves fresh basil

1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

To make sauce:

In medium saucepan over moderate heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onion, garlic, and pepper and sauté until just tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Add wine, marjoram, thyme, and basil and simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and 3/4 cup water to pot and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. (Sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated up to 3 days.)

To make ratatouille:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In large saucepan over moderately high heat, bring 2 quarts salted water to boil. Add fennel and boil until tender, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, rub red and yellow peppers, zucchini, and eggplant with olive oil and transfer to large baking sheet. Cut off top 1/2 inch from garlic head. Wrap in foil and transfer to baking sheet alongside vegetables.

When fennel is tender, use tongs to transfer to sheet and rub with oil. Roast vegetables, turning occasionally, until tender and slightly browned, 30 to 40 minutes.

Transfer roasted peppers to large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let all vegetables stand until cooled slightly, about 10 minutes. Peel and deseed peppers, then finely dice. Remove seeds from zucchini and finely dice. Finely dice eggplant. Core fennel and finely dice.

In large saucepan over moderately high heat, combine diced roasted vegetables and tomato sauce. Squeeze garlic from skins into pan. Simmer mixture, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened with very little liquid remaining, about 10 minutes.

Stir in basil, thyme, marjoram, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Serve immediately.