Ratatouille doesn't sound delicious. It sounds like "rat" and "patootie."

One day my family and I were watching the Disney movie: Ratatouille when I thought, "Man! I wish I knew how to make that dish!" You know, the one at the end of the movie where the critic tastes it and flashes back to happy days of his childhood? Oh, I wanted to feel like that! So, I pulled out my Betty Crocker cookbook and found I had a recipe for Ratatouille! Yes! All happy, I made my dish but it turned out looking a lot like this:

Yuck! Not only did it taste gross but it looked gross too! This is what I would call Rat-Patootie! That didn't look anything like the movie's!! So I dug a little deeper and searched a little harder and now I have adapted a yummy Disney-Ratatouille-worthy dish. It does take a little bit of prep (more so than the original Betty Crocker recipe) but the end result is so amazing you're going to LOVE it! 

It has 3 specific layers that you need to make. The bottom is like a pepper and tomato sauce, the middle is the sliced vegetables and the top is a vinaigrette that you drizzle on top after it has cooked.

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Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Disney Ratatouille 
(just like the movie's)
Adapted by jalene

#1 Bottom of pan sauce (Piperade) ingredients: 

• 1 red pepper
• 1 yellow pepper
• 1 orange pepper
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 6 tomatoes (about 24 ounces total weight)
• 2 sprig thyme (You can do rosemary instead)
• 2 sprig flat-leaf parsley
• sea salt

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 450 F.  Wash and dry peppers, removing seeds and ribs. Cut in half and place cut side down on a foil lined sheet. (Putting it on a silicone mat may discolor it.) Bake the peppers until the skin blisters (about 15 minutes). 
2. While the peppers are cooking, remove the skins and seeds of the tomatoes and finely dice. Save the juices.
3. When the peppers are cooked, remove from heat and let rest in a tightly covered bowl until they have cooled enough to handle. Peel the skin off and chop finely. 
4. In a skillet over low heat add the oil, garlic, and onion. Cook until very soft but not browned. (Add more oil if necessary.) 
5. Add tomatoes, their juices, thyme, and parsley. Simmer over medium-low heat until very soft and very liquid remains. (Make sure it does not brown.)
6. Add the peppers and simmer to soften them. Season with salt and discard large chunks of seasoning. Let it cool slightly and put in a blender to chop slightly. Pull out 2 Tbsps of the mixture and spread the rest in the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. 

#2 Vegetable Pattern Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini (4 to 5 ounces) sliced in 1/16-inch rounds 
• 1 Japanese eggplant, (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 
• 1 yellow squash (4 to 5 ounces) sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 
• 4 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/16-inch rounds 
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic 
• 2 tsp olive oil 
• 1/8 tsp thyme 
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 300 F. In a 9x13 pan arrange a strip of alternating slices of vegetables over piperade sauce. (See above picture.) Repeat until pan is filled. (You may not use all the vegetables).
2. Mix the garlic, oil and thyme in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover pan with foil-making sure edges are sealed well. Bake until vegetables are tender, about 50 minutes. Turn up heat to 325 F and uncover the pan and bake 15 minutes more. 

#3 Vinaigrette Drizzle Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp and 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbsp of the reserved piperade
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Combine all the ingredients. :)

To serve Ratatouille carefully lift sliced vegetables out of pan and round into a circular fan shape. Drizzle top and slightly the plate with the Vinaigrette. Serve hot. 

You can serve this over white rice, brown rice or quinoa to make it more substantial. 

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