Ratatouille - SoCal Restaurant Show

Recipe excerpt from:
The Meathead Method
by Meathead

Yep, Meathead makes vegan dishes occasionally. You may never make ratatouille the Disney way again. I like to serve it over pasta, but you can serve it on couscous or rice. It is even good cold, so bring it to a party. Try the Eggplant Parm on the website and in the last book.

MAKES 6 servings
TAKES 15 minutes to prep, about 20 minutes to cook

1 pound eggplant
1 pound zucchini or yellow squash
1 pound meaty tomatoes, such as Romas or San Marzanos
1 large red, yellow, or orange bell pepper, or a mix
1 large onion
Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
Inexpensive olive oil
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Medium-grind black pepper
16 ounces dried pasta (I like farfalle / little bow ties)
Fresh basil, oregano, chives, and/or thyme, for garnish
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for garnish
OPTIONAL: High-quality olive oil

PREP THE VEGGIES. With a potato peeler, peel 3 or 4 stripes of skin off the eggplant, top to bottom. You want to get some of the skin off but leave at least half on. The skin has flavor and nutrients, but if you don’t take some off, it is more difficult to cut and chew. Cut the eggplant crosswise into discs 1/2 inch thick. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thickplanks or crosswise into discs. Cut the tomatoes in half from top to bottom. Cut the bell pepper in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and stems. Peel the onion, cut off the stem and top ends, and cut it in half across the equator. Insert two toothpicks into each half from the sides to hold them together.
FIRE UP. Get the grill running in 2 zones and get the hot side up to about Warp 7.
GRILL THE VEGGIES. Dump the eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and onion onto a sheet pan, sprinkle one side lightly with salt, and paint all sides with olive oil. Add the veggies to the grill grates over the hot side and grill until they get a few brown stripes, but don’t cook until they turn to mush. Leave a little crunch. As they finish, you can snatch the skins off the tomatoes and discard them; they should come off easily with a pinch. Chop the rest of the veggies (not the tomatoes) into bite-sized chunks and slide them into a bowl.
MAKE THE TOMATO SAUCE. Peel and mince or press the garlic. In a cast-iron skillet set over direct heat on the grill (or on a burner), heat 1 tablespoon inexpensive olive oil until hot. Add the garlic, thyme, pepper flakes, and black pepper to taste, and cook only for about a minute, enough to kill the garlic’s rawness. Add the tomatoes, smush them, and cook until the sauce thickens a bit, perhaps 5 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and liquid from the bowl, stir, and warm over medium heat.
PASTA. On the stovetop, bring 1 gallon of water to a boil for the pasta and add about 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the pasta and cook to al dente according to the package directions.
SERVE. Drain the pasta, move it to a big bowl, pour on the tomato sauce, then pile on the rest of the veggies. Garnish and gently mix the herbs and Parmigiano in so they warm and exude their perfume. If you like, do as they do in Italy, and drizzle a high-quality olive oil over the top of each individual serving (especially if you plan to serve it cold).