How to make ratatouille like the film

The amount of joy that making this dish brought me is unparalleled.

If you want to create somthing that will bring a smile to your face, and to the faces of those you're serving to, making ratatouille nicoise (a la Remy) is truly the way to do it.

Ratatouille is a French vegetable dish and it can be made in a few different ways. I'd only ever previously tried it from people who made it by stewing vegetables in a pan, but I decided that now was the time to make it myself, and I chose to do it the oven-baked Remy way.

To make ratatouille like it is in the movie Ratatouille you will need...

Ingredients:

The vegetable topping

4 potatoes

3 carrots (can substitute for: 1 aubergine, or 1 squash)

2 courgettes

2 large tomatoes, or a handful of baby tomatoes

1 garlic clove

Basil leaves

Olive oil

The sauce

1 bottle of tomato purée

2 onions (depending on size)

2 peppers

2 garlic cloves

1 celery

Olive oil

Granulated pepper

Optional, but preferable: Listen to Le Festin whilst you make it

Recipe:

The sauce

1. For the sauce, put olive oil and your chopped onions to a pan

2. When the onions are lightly fried, add the chopped peppers and chopped celery (chop small)

3. Add your finely chopped garlic cloves and the tomato purée: stir together well, and add a sprinkling of granulated pepper.

4. Pour the sauce over the base of your oven-dish.

The topping

1. Slice the potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and courgettes (should be just a little bit thicker than a pound coin), and then arrange them in order on top of the sauce: they should be placed at a slight angle

2. Once arranged, cut your basil leaves (about six small ones) on top of the vegetables and sprinkle your chopped garlic, before drizzling with olive oil

3. Cover with tin foil and bake in the oven for 50 minutes at 180-190 degrees C: after 50 minutes, remove the foil and brown for another 5-10 minutes (depending on the temperature of your oven: I have a very hot fan oven)

4. Serve with rice and voila!