Hollywood Ratatouille

The traditional French ratatouille recipe is a stew. Mine is adapted from Rachel Ray's recipe; and composed in a similar manner to Remy's version in the Disney Pixar movie Ratatouille.

This dish cooks well in a dark-colored casserole, in a solar oven (as seen in the video demo, at the end of this post).

INGREDIENTS
•    2 tablespoons olive oil
•    1 medium onion, chopped
•    3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
•    1 whole roasted red pepper, chopped (fresh, or from a jar)
•    1 small can tomato paste (8 ounces)
•    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
•    1 small yellow squash, sliced ¼ inch thick
•    1 small zucchini, sliced ¼ inch thick
•    2-3 small potatoes (baby Yukon Gold, or Red Bliss, or blue), sliced ¼ inch thick
•    1 small eggplant, sliced thicker than the other veggies
•    3-4 sprigs thyme, leaves removed

PREPARATION

1. Set up your oven and pre-heat to 425ºF.
2. Lay the eggplant on a baking sheet, and salt each side. Let it sit until the water is drawn out.
3. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion, garlic and roasted peppers to the pan and cook until the onions begin to get tender, 4-5 minutes.
4. Set up a food processor or blender and add the contents of the pan to the machine. Add in the tomato sauce and puree everything together (it should be about the consistency of thin tomato sauce). Season with salt and pepper and pour the mixture out into the bottom of a casserole dish or an ovensafe sauté pan.
5. Swirl your dish around so that the bottom is evenly coated with the sauce; then arrange your veggies on top in a spiral pattern, alternating each veggie type, until you've filled the pan.
6. Sprinkle the thyme leaves over the top along with some salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Cover, and place the whole pan into the oven. Bake until the veggies are tender, about 45 minutes (may be as long as 2-3 hours in a solar oven).

Serve the ratatouille over polenta or rice, or with a nice, crusty artisan bread.