Confit Byaldi (Thomas Keller's Ratatouille)

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This elegant rendition of the classic Provençal "peasant dish" ratatouille comes from culinary genius Thomas Keller. His French Confit Byaldi is a beautifully composed play on this summer favorite. This is the dish Remy serves Anton Ego in the acclaimed animated film of the same name.

Thomas Keller's ratatouille made with thinly sliced vegetables fanned into a circle on a white plate.

(This recipe was originally published in August 2019, but was updated with new photos and content in 2022).

Everyone who has seen the movie Ratatouille remembers that iconic scene towards the end when cynical food critic Anton Ego dines at Gusteau's and takes his first bite of the movie's namesake dish, ratatouille.

He immediately recalls his innocent youth and his mother comforting him with bowl of rustic ratatouille. That moment is one of my favorite cinematic moments ever, as it perfectly captures the nostalgia that a single bite of food can offer its diner.

Traditional ratatouille is a simple, humble French Provençal dish of stewed zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes. World-renowned, 3-Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller created a much more refined version of the dish especially for the movie, for which he served as a food consultant. This variation of composed ratatouille is based on the one developed by French chef Michel Guérard in 1976.

For this confit byaldi, a summer's bounty of thinly sliced zucchini, summer squash, Japanese eggplant, and tomatoes are arranged in a gorgeously colorful spiral pattern. The vegetables are nestled atop a bed of piperade, a tomato and bell pepper sauce originally from Basque Country but adapted for this dish.

Anton Ego's reaction is spot on. It really is that good! There is so much concentrated flavor, and the practically paper-thin vegetables simply melt in your mouth. For a considerably light dish, confit byaldi has a certain decadence to it, a richness, an intensity that can only come from a low-and-slow approach.

Ingredient notes

Ingredients for confit byaldi on a light grey background.

Japanese Eggplant: Asian style eggplants are perfect for confit byaldi because they typically have a uniform diameter, and are long and slender. Look for firm eggplants with smooth, unblemished skin.
Zucchini: Use firm zucchini with smooth, unblemished skin. Look for zucchini with a similar overall diameter to your Japanese eggplant.
Summer Squash: Summer squash often have a fat end and a skinny end. Try for find one that has a more uniform thickness at the fat end which is close to the diameter of your other vegetables.
Tomatoes: You'll need Roma tomatoes for slicing. They're a bit elongated with uniform thickness, and are firm and not too juicy. For the piperade sauce, you'll need a couple standard tomatoes (like a beefsteak tomato) to peel, seed, and finely chop.
Peppers: Although you could certainly use a single colored bell pepper, the variety of red, yellow, and orange creates a beautiful compliment to the confit byaldi. I think it's worth it, but you could easily use 1 ½ red bell peppers if you can't get the other colors.

Closeup of a pan of confit byaldi with thinly sliced vegetables in a spiral pattern.

How to make it

First make the piperade sauce. Heat the oven to 450°F. Place pepper halves on a foil-lined sheet, cut side down. Then roast until the skin loosens, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Orange, yellow, and red bell pepper halves roasted with blistered skin on a foil lined pan.

Remove from the heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Peel and chop finely.

Three bowls with diced roasted peppers, diced tomato with herbs, and diced onion with garlic. — Prepped ingredients for the piperade

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-low to medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes.

Add tomatoes, their juices, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered over low heat until very soft and very little liquid remains, about 10 to 15 minutes, but do not brown.

Add peppers and simmer to soften them. Season the mixture with salt, and discard the herbs.

Reserve 1 tablespoon of the mixture for the vinaigrette and spread the remainder in the bottom of a 9-inch oven-proof skillet (I use a 9-inch All-Clad French skillet).

Red and orange hued piperade bell pepper sauce spread evenly in a stainless steel skillet.

Next, prepare the vegetables for the confit byaldi.

Very thinly sliced zucchini, summer squash, Japanese eggplant, and tomato arranged in rows.

Heat the oven to 275°F. Starting from the outside working inward, arrange alternating slices of vegetables over the piperade, overlapping so that ¼ inch of each slice is exposed. Repeat until you fill the entire pan. You may not use all of the vegetables.

Colorful thinly sliced vegetables arranged in a spiral pattern in a stainless steel skillet.

Mix the garlic, oil, and thyme leaves in bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle over the vegetables.

Colorful thinly sliced vegetables arranged in a spiral pattern and drizzled with oil and herbs.

Cover the pan with foil and crimp the edges to seal well. Bake until the vegetables are tender when tested with a paring knife, about 2 hours. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more.

Baked confit byaldi with thinly sliced vegetables arranged in a spiral pattern.

At this point it may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days. Serve cold or reheat in 350°F oven until warm.

Finally, make the vinaigrette. Combine the reserved 1 tablespoon piperade, oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper in a bowl.

A small bowl of vinaigrette with a spoon.

To serve Thomas Keller's ratatouille, place the pan underneath the broiler until just barely browned.

An elegant ratatouille with vegetable slices arranged in a spiral pattern in a skillet.

Portion confit byaldi into quarters and very carefully lift each portion onto a plate with an offset spatula. Turn the spatula 90 degrees, guiding the byaldi into a fan shape. Drizzle the vinaigrette around the plate. Serve hot.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

Two plates of ratatouille on a striped linen napkin with fresh tomatoes and thyme beside them.

Expert tips and FAQs

So here's the deal. Mandolins scare the heck out of me. I own one, but it lives in the basement, practically untouched. Although it will take longer than using a mandolin to slice the veggies, I find that using a super sharp knife works really well. If your knife skills aren't great, use the mandolin but just be super cautious. They actually sell cut resistant gloves, which might be worth a try.

There's no denying it. Thomas Keller's ratatouille is a time-consuming dish to prepare. It bakes for 2 ½ hours not counting the time to make the piperade, slice the vegetables, etc. It is, however, well worth the time and effort to create this beautiful and elegant summer dish.

Confit byaldi can easily serve as a vegetarian (technically vegan) main dish or side dish, and can be served hot or cold. It's even better the next day if you're willing to be patient. I particularly like the vinaigrette component as the tiny bit of balsamic lends a nice acidic note to the dish.

The portion sizes for this confit byaldi are not very large. If you've seen the movie, you know it's served in a small fanned and layered portion. It's harder than it looks to arrange the cooked ratatouille as perfectly as Remy (and Thomas Keller) do, but it will taste fantastic either way.

How do you peel tomatoes?

Bring a small pot of water to a simmer. Meanwhile, score an X in the bottom of each tomato, just deep enough to cut the skin. Place the tomato in a slotted spoon and carefully lower it into the simmering water. Simmer for about 20 to 30 seconds, then remove with the slotted spoon to your work surface. Let it cool for a few minutes, then peel the skin off with a paring knife or your fingers, starting with the X. If the skin doesn't peel easily, submerge in simmering water for a few more seconds.

Ratatouille fanned into a circle on a white plate with a drizzle of vinaigrette around it.

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