Ratatouille

Make the sauce: Preheat oven to 180 ºC or 350 ºF. Cut 2 yellow or red bell peppers in half and discard the seeds. Put the halves on a baking tray with the outside facing up and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop and sauté 2 onions and 3 cloves garlic in a skillet over medium-heat. Peel and grind carrots and add them to the skillet. Add 7-9 diced tomatoes (or 2 cans), bay leaves and 3 sprigs of thyme.

When bell peppers are done and have cooled enough to handle, peel off the skin with your fingers. Chop and add to the sauce. Let the sauce cook for as long as possible, stirring occasionally (from 30 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes). When the sauce is ready, remove the herbs and blend until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper.

Prepare your vegetables: Finely slice eggplant, zucchini, remaining tomatoes and remaining bell peppers in 2-3 mm (0.1 inch) thick circles and arrange them in any order you like. I put a slice of eggplant, then zucchini, tomato, onion, bell pepper. Fill your form tightly with overlapping vegetables, arranging them in circles or rows, depending on the shape of your form. We are going to dry-fit them first to be sure you have enough vegetables. You may need to slice more vegetables so that they fit tightly. It’s hard to predict how many vegetables you need, as it depends on their size and on the size of your dish. If the difference between the sizes of your slices is too big (normally, the eggplant has the biggest diameter), you can cut rounds out of the large slices. Cut a section off the bell pepper rings to make them smaller and hide the cut-out pieces on the bottom. After you are done determining the amount of veggies needed for your ratatouille, empty the dish.

Roast: Preheat the oven to 150 ºC or 300 ºF. Pour the sauce in your baking dish and arrange the vegetable slices just like the first time. Sprinkle with the mixture of olive oil, remaining 2 cloves chopped garlic, salt, black pepper and the rest of the thyme leaves. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for at least 1 hour 30 minutes (up to 2 hours 30 minutes) on low temperature. Uncover and roast for 20–40 more minutes. The longer you roast it, the richer the taste and the thicker the sauce. When you uncover the dish, the liquid from the veggies will evaporate and they will caramelize and develop an extra rich flavor.

You can eat this once it cools down a bit or make it ahead, freeze and enjoy it later. You can refrigerate it for up to 1 week. Ratatouille only gets better the next day. Serve it with bread, rice, pasta or potatoes. Or just enjoy its unique taste by itself. Bon appétit!