Moser Good Eats and Good Times: Deconstructed Ratatouille

According to the Foodie Buddha, “at the heart, any deconstructed dish should contain all the classic components found in the original.” Here’s how Deconstructed Ratatouille came to be. Back in 1995, when we first moved to Amador County we lived in a darling house on Spanish Street, Sutter Creek, for six months from July through December. Each Saturday we would get up and walk to the Farmers’ Market. One day we bought a basket that included a recipe for Ratatouille along with most of the ingredients. It was a stovetop version and our first experience both preparing and eating Ratatouille. We all loved it, but only made it a few times after that.

Several years later we tried our friend Sally’s baked Ratatouille and fell in love again. Hers was a casserole with a rich marinara sauce, alternating layers of eggplant, green bell pepper, zucchini, bits of bacon, and grated cheese. Delicious! But, like all good things, it can be overdone and we managed to do just that a few years ago. Every Tuesday throughout the summer Verne and I would stop at Davis Ranch where I’d buy more produce than we could possibly eat in a week. You know the saying: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade? Our saying was: When you’ve got eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers, make Ratatouille. We definitely overdid a good thing!

We’re back making our weekly trips to Davis Ranch, but we’re not ready for Sally’s Ratatouille. We did buy an eggplant a few weeks ago for one of my favorites, Eggplant Parmesan. And then it hit me…while our stomachs are not ready for Sally’s Ratatouille and it’s, albeit, an incredible amalgamation of flavors, we could create our own deconstructed version using the basic ingredients…the stars of the dish (red sauce, eggplant, and zucchini). By literally building on the Eggplant Parmesan with a topping of diced zucchini sautéed in butter and olive oil, sprinkled with bits of browned bacon, and finished with a chiffonade of fresh basil, I believe we’ve created a simpler (strike that…it’s actually only simpler in appearance; it's far more complex to make) and more elegant Ratatouille.

Briefly, here’s the process for making Deconstructed Ratatouille:

1. SAUCE: I put by tomatoes every summer when they’re plentiful by roasting/dehydrating them in the oven. The finished product is a concentrated, intensely flavorful addition to any sauce or may be used as an appetizer. Here’s how you do it: Thinly slice Romas and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, top with dried Italian spices, salt and pepper, and bake at 325 degrees for about two or three hours…until they’ve dehydrated, but still moist. Freeze what you don't use in a quart bag to enjoy throughout the year. Add a few spices and a little wine, puree, reduce a bit on the stovetop and WahLah!…you’ve got a delicious Marinara. Plan the better part of a morning preparing the tomatoes and then the sauce. Here they are ready to go in the oven...

and ready to go in the sauce or freezer...

2. CHEESES: Finely grate a blend of Parmesan and Asiago cheeses. Thinly slice fresh Mozzarella.

3. EGGPLANT (the Star): Peel and thinly slice a large eggplant, place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, heavily salted, and let rest and weep for about ½ hour. Rinse the salt and dry with clean paper towels. Prepare three shallow dishes: an egg wash, flour, Panko crumbs/cheese mixture. Dip eggplant in each and fry until golden brown. Set aside.

4. Assemble by stacking the eggplant, sauce, and cheeses three high. Bake.

5. TOPPINGS: Prepare and set aside...Fry the bacon bits until just done. Chiffonade the fresh basil. Just prior to serving, saute the finely diced zucchini.

6. Plate the creation by pooling a bit of the reserved sauce, placing one of the stacked Eggplant Parmesan, top with the remaining ingredients, finish with a bit of the grated cheese.