Confit Byaldi - The Ratatouille from Ratatouille
September 28th, 2020
This Recipe creates 12 servings
Prep Time: 24 hours
Cook Time: 03 hours 30 minutes
The Ratatouille dish served at the end of the Pixar movie Ratatouille, is a Confit Byaldi that requires two different preparations:
1. Pipérade is a thin sauce, with Basque origins, traditionally made with onions and a "mildly-hot" red pepper called Espelette pepper. Since Espelette peppers may not be readily available, this Pipérade recipe uses even milder peppers, the Poblano and the Red Pimento.
2. The Pipérade is spread across the bottom of a casserole pan and then covered with thinly sliced vegetables and slow roasted for several hours.
Refrigerating the dish overnight will allow the flavors to mature. Reheat in the oven before serving.
Traditionally, this dish could be served hot as a side-dish with meat (like Rosemary Chicken), Basil Rice, or with a sliced baguette.
Store the leftovers in an airtight refrigerator dish. The leftovers only get better.
I prefer to use a Japanese eggplant, instead of the more common Italian Eggplant. Japanese eggplant provides a better ascetic, as each slice of a Japanese eggplant is already similar in diameter to the Roma Tomato, the Zuchinni, and the yellow squash slices. Additionally, the Japanese eggplant has a skin that is thinner than the Italian eggplant, making for a better overall texture. Japanese eggplants can often be found at your local Indo-Pak or Oriental Grocer.
Ingredients:
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Pipérade
2 Poblano Pepper, oven roasted and peeled
2 large Red Bell Pepper, oven roasted and peeled
1 small Yellow Onion, diced
3 large Roma Tomatoes, oven roasted and peeled
2 Cloves (1 Teaspoons) Garlic, finely minced or 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons Fresh Rosemary
2 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme
2 Clove Fresh Garlic or Garlic Confit
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 pinch Kosher Salt
Confit Byaldi
2 small (8 oz total) Zucchini squash
2 small (8 oz total) Yellow Squash
2 small (8 oz total) Japanese Eggplants
5 large Roma Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Fresh Rosemary
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 pinch Kosher Salt
Additional Ingredients
Balsamic Vinegar
Fresh Basil Leaves, chiffonade
Directions:
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Pipérade
As a reminder, you should wear gloves when working with peppers.
Turn the Broiler on high. Move the oven rack to the second highest position. Line a large oven-pan with aluminum foil.
Quarter 3 of the Roma Tomatoes. Remove and discard the seeds.
Cut the Peppers in half and remove the stems and seeds.
Place the peppers in the pan, skin side up. Add the tomatoes to the pan and broil.
When the pepper skins char, peel the skins from the peppers. Turn the peppers over.
Remove the peppers from the broiler when they are soft and aromatic.
Remove the tomatoes from the broiler when they begin to darken slightly in color, and the pulp can be easily scraped from the skin. Discard the tomato skins and the pepper skins.
Place the roasted peppers and tomatoes into a blender. Add the onion, garlic, chicken stock, water, Rosemary, and Thyme. Blend on high until smooth. Stop the blender, then drizzle in the Olive oil. Pulse the blender about a half a dozen more times.
thyme
Confit Biyaldi
Pour or spoon about 1 cup of the Pipérade across the bottom of a 9x13 oven-safe casserole dish, in an even layer.
Thinly slice (1/8 inch thick coins) the Zucchini, Crookneck Squash, Eggplant, and the rest of the Roma Tomatoes.
Stack and layer the vegetable slices, accordion-style, across the bottom of the pan.
Spoon on a few more tablespoons of Pipérade.
Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon chopped Rosemary.
Sprinkle with a pinch of Kosher salt.
Cooking Day 1
Preheat the oven to 300° F.
Cover the vegetables in pan with a sheet of parchment paper and bake for 1.5 hours.
Remove the parchment paper and bake for an additional 1 hour to caramelize the sugars in the vegetables.
Use an instant read thermometer to ensure that the internal temperature in the center of the dish reaches 195° F.
Remove the pan from the oven and cool. Cover again with parchment paper, then tightly with aluminum foil.
Refrigerate over-night to mature the flavors.
Cooking Day 2
Preheat the oven to 325° F.
Without removing the aluminum foil, Bake for 1 hour.
In a small saucepan, warm the remaining Pipérade over medium heat.
Spoon some Pipérade onto the plate. Stack and arrange the vegetables, in an alternating pattern, onto the plate. Sprinkle with a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar and chopped Basil.
Serve the remaining Pipérade in a gravy boat.
Enjoy!
