Ratatouille Sub
- 1 long, thin eggplant, such as a Japanese variety
- 1 long, thin zucchini
- 1 long, thin yellow squash
- 1 to 2 red bell peppers, long and narrow if you can find them
- ½ small yellow onion
- 1 cup (250 grams) tomato purée (such as Pomi) or canned tomato sauce
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
- Salt
- Red pepper flakes or piment d’Espelette
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme
- Two 8-inch sub rolls, or the equivalent length of baguettes
Instructions:
Not only is the resulting dish gorgeous, it comes together quickly.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and prepare the vegetables: Trim the ends from the eggplant, zucchini, and squash, and, with a mandoline, adjustable-blade slicer, or very sharp knife, slice them into pieces approximately 1⁄16 inch thick. As carefully as you can, trim the ends off the red pepper and remove the core, leaving the flesh intact, like a tube. Thinly slice crosswise. Thinly slice the onion as well.
- Spread the tomato purée into a 2-quart baking dish. Stir in the onion slices, minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, a few pinches of salt, and a pinch of pepper flakes. Arrange the slices of eggplant, zucchini, yellow summer squash, and red pepper so that they overlap, with just a smidgen of each flat surface visible. The pepper will give you the most trouble, because it’s probably bigger in diameter than the other vegetables, but whether it fans prettily or not, it will bake up nicely. You might not need all of your vegetables. Drizzle remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the vegetables, and sprinkle with thyme. Cover dish with foil, and bake for 45 minutes, until vegetables are almost completely fork-tender.
- Meanwhile, split your sub rolls. Once the 45 minutes are up, increase heat to 425, remove foil from the baking dish, and bake, uncovered, 15 minutes more. On the other rack, place your sub rolls on a tray to toast for 5 to 10 minutes.
- A long, thin offset spatula, like an icing knife, is best for serving here. Carefully slide it under one section of the fanned vegetables, and slide it onto the bottom half of a toasted roll. Keep adding sections until you have covered the bread, and then repeat this so that you have a second layer of fanned vegetables. Scoop up any oniony sauce that was left beneath the vegetables, and lay it over the sub. Close each sub with the top half of the roll, cut into manageable lengths to eat, and serve.