MON DIEU OH LA LA, C'EST RATATOULLIE!

The CSA had an insane number of zucchini and squash, so what was there to do but pop in Disney's Ratatouille and make the dish itself! Typically it has more cheese than a Whole Foods dairy aisle, but May and I were having none of that, so we cut butter and cheese where we could, and replaced the rest of it with soy and rice cheese.

To date, this is my favorite snackrobiotic dish we've ever made. It was probably one of the best things I've ever eaten. It's labor-intensive, but if you really want to rock the minds of your vegan friends, I have to say that this is a truly stunning dish.


* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 6 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon dried parsley
* 2 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
* salt to taste
* 2 cups grated soy cheese (try either rice cheese parmesan or soy cheese mozarella)
* 4 zucchini, sliced
* 2 large red onion, sliced into rings
* 4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
* 4 large tomatoes, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat bottom and sides of a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
2. 
   
3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until lightly browned. Mix in parsley and eggplant. Saute until eggplant is soft, about 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste. Follow these same steps for the mushrooms, cooking about 10 minutes until most of the liquid is released and evaporated. Add to the mushrooms one sprig of fresh thyme.
   

See the steps below for pictures of what happens next!


It took a long time to slice these by hand. I'd recommend using a mandolin where it's available, and doubling or tripling the recipe to make at least two pans of it. If you're going to do the work, might as well have a tray of leftovers, because this thing will be consumed to the last drop.
It's key to saute the mushrooms, eggplant, and then (separately) the onion slices. The former two because they'll make the dish too liquidy when it cooks, and the latter because onions lose their flavor when they are raw and touch acidic tomatoes in the oven. You have to saute them a little while first, so that their flavor comes out and is sealed in.
Coat the bottom of the pan in mushrooms and eggplant like the bottom of a pie crust.
Begin layering all of your ingredient discs, alternating materials (squash, zuc, tomato, onion) all the way up and down the pan. Once a level is complete, cover it in soy/rice cheese, and start building the next level.

Pop it in the oven and cook for 45-60 minutes! I hit it with one last layer of soy cheese and let it really brown...

It was such a perfect night. We sat in the sun room, which is this great turn-of-the century construction off the side of the house that is all windows, popped in the movie "Ratatouille," and enjoyed this incredible dish together. What an amazing experience!