Rustic Ratatouille in Wood-Fired Oven
Servings: 15
Calories: 75kcal
Cost: $22
This is the ratatouille version I really enjoy making for my family during hot summer days...
Equipment
- 1 Pizza oven
- 3 Baking trays
- 1 Large skillet
- 1 Large sautoir
- 1 Large shallow baking pan
- 3 Medium size roasting pans
- 1 Large shallow dish for serving
- 3 large bowls
- 1 Kitchen tongs
- 1 Large wooden spoon
- 1 Rubber spatula
- 1 Cutting board
Ingredients
Roasted Garlic
- 200 g Olive oil
- 2 each Garlic bulbs
- 2 each Bay leaves
- 2 each Thyme sprigs
Red of Florence Onions & Eggplants
- 1 kg Red of Florence onions
- 1 kg Eggplants
Zucchinis
- 1 kg Zucchini
- 30 g Olive oil from the roasted garlic
- 8 g Celtic grey salt
- 2 g Ground black pepper
Tomatoes
- 1 kg Beefsteak or Roma tomatoes
- 30 g Olive oil from the roasted garlic
- 20 each Basil leaves
- 30 g Peeled garlic
- 2 each Thyme sprigs
- 8 g Celtic grey salt
- 3 g Ground black pepper
- 2 each Bay leaves
- 5 g Smoked paprika
- 2 g Chili pepper to taste
- 2 g Herb de Provence to taste
Braised Bell Peppers
- 1 kg Assortment of bell peppers or Corno di toro rosso
- 800 g Yellow onions
- 40 g Olive oil from the roasted garlic
- 10 g Grey salt
- 3 each Bay leaves
- 2 g Ground black pepper
Instructions
Braising in a Wood Oven
- Utilizing Residual Heat "chaleur tombante" (fallen heat). After preheating the oven for a few hours, I use the oven's slowly declining residual heat to cook some of the vegetables I need for the ratatouille (eggplants and onions) slowly and gently over many hours.
- This low-and-slow method breaks down the vegetables' fibers resulting in incredible softness and concentrated flavor. You could also do half of the onions cooked that way and the remaining cooked with the bell peppers later.
Roasted Garlic
- Halve garlic bulbs and cook them slowly in olive oil and herbs for about 45 minutes. Let cool. At that point, roasted garlic in oil can be refrigerated and be used later. It will anyway, be reheated in your wood-fired oven and served along with the ratatouille.
Red of Florence Onions & Eggplants
- So, when your wood-fired oven has gone through the preheating phase for 3 or 4 hours a day ahead, spread out the ambers all around the floor and shut the door. Let cool it off for an hour (fallen heat). Then remove the ambers. Wrap the onions and eggplants individually in aluminum foil. Place them in shallow dish or baking tray or throw them straight onto the wood-fired oven floor which should be at 480ºF/250ºC. Shut the oven door and leave them in all night. Otherwise bake them in your fan oven set at the same temp. Then after 45 minutes, turn the oven off and leave your veggies in all night.
- Next, remove the foil wrapped around the onions. With your serrated knife, cut through it and remove the flesh.
- Stalk the cooked onions flesh in a roasting pan. Season with a good drizzle of garlic oil, salt and pepper; set aside to get roasted later in the wood-fire oven.
- Do likewise with the cooked eggplants. Add more spices if desired.
Zucchinis
- Wash, trim off ends and cut zucchinis into bite size chunks. Hull tomatoes and cut them into chunks as well (same size as the zucchinis). Keep them in separate bowl. In a large sautoire, heat up olive oil and cook zucchinis on medium-high heat for 35 minutes stirring every so often (add salt and pepper during cooking). Transfer zucchinis to a large bowl.
Tomatoes
- In the same pan, heat up olive oil and basil leaves. Add tomatoes along with the remaining ingredients. Cook tomatoes for 45 minutes; uncovered. Transfer them to a large boil or let them cool in the pan.
Braised Bell Peppers
- Clean pepper under cool running water. Use your hands to gently rub off any dirt. Place the pepper on its side on the cutting board. Slice about ½ inch off the top (stem end). Make a straight cut down one side. Cut off white membranes and remove the seeds. Cut into strips and squares. Peel and chop onions. In the sautoire, braise the onions and bell peppers with the remaining ingredients on medium-low heat for an hour.
Wood-Fired oven (final cooking)
- Five hours before eating, heat your wood-fire oven. So, if you plan to eat a 1pm, heat oven at 7am. Stop adding wood at 11. When the oven floor is at 570ºF/300ºC, push ambers toward the back. Clean oven floor with a wire brush. Start finish roasting all of the ratatouille element at 11:30. Begin with the tomato-zucchini mixture which should take 2 hours allowing enough room for most of the moisture to escape. The other preparations take about 30 minutes extra roasting time to get caramelized.
- In the large shallow baking pan, combine the zucchinis with tomatoes. Squeeze out some of the roasted garlic in. In a separate roasting pan, spread the eggplant caviar and top with the red of Florence onions. Throw the prepared dishes in the oven and have them rotated each every 20 minutes or so. Leave the garlic in oil or what's left on the front oven floor. Serve the bell pepper-onion mixture separately.Serve ratatouille with boiled and peeled potatoes and brown them in the wood-fired oven with some garlic oil and persillade!
- Bon appétit!
Nutrition
Serving: 150g | Calories: 75kcal