College cooking is its own particular beast, even for those who worship Julia Child and Vladimir Nabokov in the same breath. Bigger is always better, and more is better than less, unless you’re talking about the work that goes into making food, in which case less is definitely more.
That was the philosophy that nursed my relationship with ratatouille, a dish I vaguely remember tasting on a bygone family vacation to France.
“Vaguely” is a severe adverb for someone whose memories of travel are pinned to the brain with thumbtacks of tastings. Ratatouille was nothing special. Still, when I got sick of eating salads during a particularly aggressive dieting stint one semester, I turned to the vegetable stew.
It is a simple, forgiving dish, and I made it practically by the gallon. Nightshade vegetables, lots of onion, no skimping on the garlic and canned tomatoes. All chopped, haphazardly, in large cubes and chucked into a pot with a shake of McCormick dried basil.
The stew kept for ages, probably longer than it should have, in my fridge. Refined it was not.
Then, a magical thing happened last month. I met a rat, and I was inspired. His name is Remy. He lives in Paris. He pairs lightning-seared mushrooms with saffron. A rodent after my own heart, if not always my own practice: Here was an artist. His story? One for the ages. “Ratatouille,” a movie by Disney’s Pixar, is the story of a brilliant aspiring chef, adorable with baby-pink nose and paws but no opposable thumbs, who manages to saute sweetbreads nonetheless. Life is full of challenges.
To drive it all home, the story’s namesake is my old friend. The film serves up ratatouille in an intimidating wheel of paper-thin eggplant, zucchini and squash baked atop tomato sauce. It’s a confit byaldi, made for the movie by Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville, Calif. The real-life recipe for it boasts more than 20 ingredients and nearly as many steps.
If life were a cooking contest and it came down to me and the rat, the rat would win. Clearly.
Despite my competitive nature, I am OK with that. I am no longer OK, however, with my sorry excuse for ratatouille. I have been woefully negligent, but confit byaldi demands more time than I could ever give.
Surely there must be a happy medium, I thought, so I set off to experiment.
Great ratatouille is made by cooking the different kinds of vegetables separately, so that each retains its own flavor and texture.
My new version roasts vegetables of contrasting textures and shapes and liberally interprets the label “stew.” Baby, almost embryonic, vegetables at the farmers market recently tugged at my heartstrings, so in they went. I also tried for a double dose of tomatoes: a thick sauce plus intense bursts of roasted cherry ones. Nutty fennel, pungent capers, silky eggplant, smoky red pepper and earthy squash combined, perfumed with thyme.
I had outgrown my sloppy college ratatouille.
As for the recipe: Well, everyone should come up with their own version, just as Remy did. You can use whatever gourdlike vegetables are on hand. Add more squash; skip the zucchini. Swap basil for thyme, leeks for onions, olives for capers.
The stew keeps well in the fridge and can be served with anything under the sun. Next to baked chicken or grilled fish; over pasta; or as a salad, atop arugula. My favorite way to eat it is cold, with a just-poached egg on top.
To sop it all up with a crusty baguette is to be momentarily transported: not back to college, but somewhere closer to Provence.
Xiyun Yang, who graduated from Brown University in May, is a summer intern for The Post’s Business section. She also writes a food column for an English-language monthly That’s Beijing.
1medium zucchini or yellow squash, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch strips
1large fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into very thin strips (julienne)
1small, skin-on eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
15cherry tomatoes
1/4cup olive oil
Salt
1/2teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2large red bell peppers
1large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 1/2 cups)
3medium cloves garlic, minced
2medium tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/3cup capers or chopped kalamata olives
4sprigs thyme leaves
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
In a large bowl, toss the zucchini or squash, fennel, eggplant and cherry tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of the oil, salt to taste and the black pepper. Spread on the baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until softened and golden brown.
Meanwhile, char the peppers over a stovetop flame until they are black on all sides. Place in a bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap for 15 minutes. Peel and seed the peppers, then cut into 1/2-inch strips. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 7 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the diced tomatoes, the capers or olives and the thyme leaves, stirring to combine. Cook over medium-low heat for about 35 minutes. It’s better to overcook the tomato sauce than to undercook it.
Turn off the heat and add the roasted vegetables and peppers, stirring gently to combine. Adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve hot, warm or cold.
Makes 6 side-dish servings or 4 main-course servings. Per serving based on 6: 153 calories, 3 grams protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams fat, 1 gram saturated fat, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 301 milligrams sodium, 7 grams dietary fiber.
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