Ratatouille

No less a sage than Julia Child has christened ratatouille as "one of the great Mediterranean dishes," and who are we -- or is anyone -- to argue with Her? Ratatouille is an expression of sunshine; of the full, rich flavors and textures and fragrance of gorgeous produce; of a cuisine of olive oil and herbs and wine. Why, then, is it easier to find a mishandled ratatouille than one well-rendered?

Primarily, it's because to some, the dish seems labor-intensive. Contemporary cooks are often pressed for time and contemporary cooking often reflects that. The typical result is to compromise by streamlining the recipe. Such recipes are not automatically bad or wrong, but even when serviceable, these often result in dishes that are fair enough vegetable medleys, but that's not ratatouille. It isn't ratatouille if it isn't prepared with careful, which is not to say obsessive, attention to the quality of the vegetables being used to constitute it. It isn't ratatouille if it isn't baked slowly at low steady heat, to coax those veggies to release their full, sensual nature in a bath of creamy tomato and fragrant herbs. It isn't ratatouille if it's rushed.

Lucky for us, then, that ratatouille isn't really complicated. There's some careful choosing from the garden whether at home or at market, some chopping and seasoning, and some baking. That's it. It is no more true to the dish for it to be complicated or showy than it is for it to be jumbled or hurried. The truth of ratatouille lies in creating an environment where the vegetables express themselves as the symphony they are, not in showing off what a good (or clever or inventive) cook you are. Ratatouille is about the music, not the conductor.

Here's a recipe for ratatouille that takes full advantage of gorgeous spring produce to create a dish of lush flavors and textures. Make your ratatouille on a slow spring afternoon when sunlight slants through the windows and the garden is entering full bloom. Serve your ratatouille with white rice for a simple supper (and leftovers for lunch the next day), or as an accompaniment to roasted pork, roast beef, or sautéed chicken. Serve French martinis, Blood and Sands, or a dry red wine before dinner, with chunks of blue cheese and simple crackers to awaken the palate for the rich, orchestrated flavors of this simplest, most lovingly cared for, of dishes.

Ratatouille

Use the best vegetables you can obtain for your ratatouille: firm, glossy eggplant and peppers; zucchini, onions and leeks that display no soft spots. A ceramic baking dish is indispensable in your urban kitchen; you can obtain a good one here.

1 28-ounce can peeled San Marzano tomatoes or 1 large jar safely home-canned tomatoes

1 medium yellow onion, peeled, cut into bite sized chunks

1 large eggplant, about 1 pound total weight

4 medium zucchini, about 1-1/2 pounds total weight

1 each green, red and yellow bell peppers, stemmed and seeded, cut into into bite-sized chunks

I leek

2 tablespoons sweet Vermouth

1 tablespoon red wine or sherry vinegar

4 medium cloves garlic, peeled

Several springs fresh thyme

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 sprig fresh oregano

Extra-virgin olive oil

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Prepare the vegetables

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pour a three-count of extra-virgin olive oil into a ceramic baking dish. Use a clean pastry brush to paint the inside of the baking dish with the olive oil. Sprinkle the oiled surface lightly with salt.
3. Gently empty the tomatoes including their juices into the baking dish. Use a potato masher to break the tomatoes into bite-sized chunks.
4. Lightly sprinkle the tomatoes with salt.
5. Place the pan in the oven and roast the tomatoes and their juices, uncovered, until they start to thicken and become fragrant, approximately 30 minutes.
6. While the tomatoes are roasting, cut off the root end of the leek. Cut off the tough green ends of the leek. Safely cut the trimmed leek down the center from top to bottom to form two halves. Safely cut each half top to bottom to form quarters. Cut across the quarters to form small dice. It is okay if the leeks are gritty.
7. Carefully scrape the diced leek into a medium bowl. Fill the bowl 2/3 with water. Gently swirl the water to clean the leeks, noting that the water gets cloudy and dirty as it should. Drain the water and repeat the cleaning process one or two times, until the cleaning water is clear. Drain the cleaned leeks in a sieve or colander.
8. While the leeks are draining, place the cut onion, eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers into a colander and rinse the vegetables under cool water. Drizzle the vegetables with extra virgin olive oil. Lightly sprinkle the vegetables with salt and several grindings of fresh black pepper. Gently toss the mixture in the colander to coat the vegetables with the oil and seasonings. Set the colander aside to drain.
9. Cut a length of kitchen string. Bundle the thyme, rosemary, and oregano together and wrap the bundle two or three times with the string. Tie the string so that the bundle is good and tight.

Assemble and bake the ratatouille

1. After the tomatoes have roasted 1/2 hour, carefully remove the baking dish from the oven and safely place it on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Working carefully to avoid burning yourself on the hot ceramic, press the garlic cloves into the baked tomato mixture. Add the drained, diced leek to the tomato mixture. Measure the vermouth, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons olive oil into the baked tomato mixture. Use a wooden spoon or silicon spatula to gently stir the tomato mixture to incorporate the new ingredients.
3. Gently transfer the oiled onion, eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers to the pan containing the tomato mixture. Use a silicon spatula to get all of the vegetable juices into the dish.
4. Gently stir the vegetables and tomato mixture together until well-combined. Nestle the herb bundle into the center of the dish. Sprinkle the top of the ratatouille with a light sprinkling of salt and several grindings of fresh black pepper.
5. Cover the baking dish with its lid or with aluminum foil, shiny side down, taking care that the foil doesn't touch the food.
6. Carefully return the baking sheet containing the baking dish to the oven.
7. Bake the ratatouille, covered, until the vegetables are soft but not mushy and the ratatouille is very fragrant, approximately 1 hour.
8. After 1 hour, gently remove the covering from the baking dish and roast the ratatouille 5 - 10 minutes longer, until the top is browned and slighy crisp.

Serve the ratatouille

1. Once cooked, remove the ratatouille from the oven. Allow the ratatouille to sit about 5 minutes before serving.