The most elevated form of ratatouille is legendary French chef Michel Guérard’s confit byaldi: a tian of thinly sliced yellow and green courgette, aubergine and tomato, laboriously layered over a reduced pepper and tomato sauce, then baked until soft and intensely flavoured. At the other end of the spectrum are the same vegetables stewed together until mushy and indistinguishable. Fortunately, the happy medium of a bit of effort and thought – but not too much – makes the best ratatouille of them all.
Cooking each of the vegetables separately to suit their individual characteristics before gently baking and resting them, so that the flavours mingle just enough, ticks all the taste boxes, although I like adding a further twist of smoked water and salt, two ingredients that add an incredible flavour and I think should become as commonplace as pomegranate molasses and tahini. You can easily buy them online and in some supermarkets. There may well be leftovers, but that’s not a bad thing; ratatouille keeps very well in the fridge for 2–3 days and is as suited to confit duck legs as it is to some quality sausages or a cold slice of quiche.
Ingredients
- 1 kg aubergines
- 3 large red peppers
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 500 g tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons smoked water
- 800 g courgettes, a mix of green and yellow if possible
- Sunflower oil or vegetable oil, for frying
- 350 g cherry tomatoes, left whole
- Leaves from 1 small bunch (25 g) basil
- Smoked sea salt flakes
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Cut the aubergines into four length ways, then slice each quarter into 4 cm-wide chunks.
- Preheat the oven to its highest temperature (about 250°C/Fan 250°C/Gas 10). Quarter the peppers lengthways, removing the seeds and stalks. Put them on a baking tray, skin-side up, and roast on the top shelf for 15 minutes, or until the skins are blackening and the flesh is soft. Tip them into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to sweat for 10 minutes. You should then be able to push the skins off the peppers with ease. Discard the skins and reduce the oven temperature to 170°C/Fan 150°C/Gas 3½.
- While the peppers are doing their thing, make a smoky tomato sauce. Heat a little olive oil in a pan over a medium-low heat, add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook gently for 4–5 minutes. Add the garlic and soften it for 2 more minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and smoked water and simmer gently for 15–20 minutes. Add a good pinch of smoked salt, then decant the sauce into a small roasting tin. Put the skinned peppers on top.
- Meanwhile, cut the courgettes into discs 2–3 cm thick. Heat a frying pan or wok over a high heat, add 1 tablespoon vegetable or sunflower oil and char the courgettes on each side – you’ll need to work in batches to quickly colour and blister the cut sides while keeping the flesh relatively firm. Each batch takes only 2–3 minutes if your pan is hot enough (put the extractor fan on). When coloured but still firm, tip them into the tin with the peppers.
- Finally, brown the aubergines over a medium-high heat in the same frying pan or wok. Use just a little sunflower oil and turn each piece only when it’s starting to become translucent. Any charring is good – desirable, in fact. Transfer them to the roasting tin once done.
- Carefully redistribute the top layers of vegetables (but not the sauce) so they’re evenly mixed and season generously with smoked salt and black pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the vegetables, again without disturbing the sauce, and add the cherry tomatoes. Return to the oven for 30 minutes more, by which time the tomatoes will be blistered and the vegetables tender but not mushy.
- Remove the ratatouille from the oven, sprinkle three quarters of the basil over the top and gently coerce the sauce from the bottom of the tray over and around the vegetables. Taste to check the seasoning and add pepper and salt if you wish. Dot with the remaining basil leaves. I think it's best about 20-30 minutes after leaving the oven, when lukewarm, once the flavours have had time to soften and get to know each other.
