Ratatouille is a simple French dish with a fancy name. In its essence, it is a “peasant” combination of seasonal vegetables that happen to grow in southern France, mixed with herbs also from that area. I love to make the dish in its original form, but thought I would make it a little more exciting and add a little more protein into the mix by incorporating an egg and a ramekin.
This is truly something that anyone can make. Just as the French are able to look effortlessly cool and chic with a simple pair of jeans and leather jacket, you can too with this dish.
Ratatouille en Cocotte
2016-05-17 02:07:58
Serves 4
Baked eggs Provençal-style
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 large cloves garlic, peeled & minced
- 1 large sweet onion
- 1 large green zucchini
- 1 large yellow zucchini
- 1 medium eggplant, peeled
- 1 red pepper
- 1 large tomato
- 6 eggs
- 8-10 white mushrooms
- 1 tbsp Herbes de Provence seasoning
- Sprinkle of paprika
- Sprinkle of cayenne pepper
- Fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Chop all the vegetables (other than the garlic) into about 1-inch cubes or pieces and set aside.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a large cast-iron pot or skillet and add in onions and garlic after about 5 minutes. Stir and reduce heat if necessary.
- Add in chopped eggplant, zucchini, red pepper and mushrooms and stir every so often for about five minutes, then add in the dry seasonings (everything but parsley). Continue cooking over medium heat for about ten minutes.
- Pour in the stock of choice and once it starts to bubble, reduce to low heat before removing from heat completely (the vegetables should be medium-soft, as they need to be done, but will continue cooking in the oven).
- Spoon some ratatouille mixture into each of 6 ramekins to about 1/2 full, and add a bit of crumbled goat cheese. Fill to almost full with the rest of the ratatouille.
- Carefully crack the eggs into each of the ramekins.
- Place ramekins in a stoneware dish (casserole dish or other baking dish), and fill the dish with a water bath of about 1 1/2 inches. This will ensure that the eggs don’t get too hard.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 15 minutes or until egg whites have turned white.
- 10. Garnish with a sprinkle of parsley and pepper, and serve with some toasted French bread for the ultimate simple Provençal meal.
Notes
- If you do not happen to have a mix of Herbes de Provence at home, the individual herbs are savory, marjoram, thyme, oregano and rosemary. Feel free to add whatever you have on hand.
- It is also best to make sure you take a spoon and make a small well in your ratatouille mixture prior to cracking the egg, so that the yolk will stay relatively in the middle and will not flop to the side.
Chu On This http://www.chuonthis.ca/
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