Ratatouille Chicken

Once again, the garden is overflowing with late Summer produce.  Whenever I see eggplant and zucchini, I immediately think of ratatouille

A colorful mix of vegetables slowly cooked down in olive oil and seasoned with fresh herbs and spices with seasoned roasted chicken parts

What is ratatouille?

Yes, it’s a Disney movie but ratatouille is more commonly known as a French dish made from cooking down or stewing a mix of veggies.  Typically, ratatouille is made from eggplant, squash, tomatoes and peppers with a blend of herbs and spices.  It’s normally served as a side dish but delicious on a crusty baguette, as a vegetarian main over rice or with a protein such as lamb or chicken.  We’re going with chicken for this recipe

I like to prep all of the ingredients before I actually start cooking, or “mise en place” as the French call it.  Everything in its place

Peel and cut 2 eggplant into 1″ cubes, about 4 cups.  A trick I like to use is peeling the eggplant with a serrated bread knife.  It easily cuts off the tough skin leaving just the meat.  You can also leave the skin on the eggplant as it’s edible, but we don’t prefer not to

Remove the stem from a large zucchini and cut into 1/2″ cubes.  The skin on zucchini is thin, so I don’t mind leaving it on.  We’ll also need 3 large tomatoes cut into 1/2″ cubes.  This should yield about 2 1/2 cups of each

Chop a medium sized red bell pepper into 1/2 inch pieces (1 cup), dice a small red onion (1/2 cup) and mince 4 garlic cloves

A note about the garlic ~ I buy whole, peeled garlic in bulk from our specialty shop and mince in the food processor.  Add the garlic to olive oil in a sealable jar and keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.  It makes using chopped garlic so much easier and has a way better taste than the processed chopped garlic you can buy at the grocery store

Measure out 1/4 cup of tomato paste and 3 – 4 sprigs of fresh oregano

Next, let’s prep the chicken.  Remove the skin from 8 chicken legs and thighs and liberally season both sides with kosher salt, black pepper, paprika, garlic and onion powders

We love to cook with chicken parts because they’re inexpensive and the dark meat is so moist and flavorful

Check out a few of our favorite recipes using chicken parts

Chicken Scarpariello

Chicken with Fennel & Tarragon

Rustic Marsala Braised Chicken

Teriyaki Chicken

Heat an ovenproof pan to medium-high and drizzle in a few swirls of olive oil.  Add in the chicken parts and sear for 5-6 minutes until the chicken easily releases from the pan.  Flip and sear for another 3 to 4 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside

Lower the heat to medium and saute the onion for about 3 minutes

Add in the eggplant, garlic and a pinch of salt and cook 3-4 minutes until the eggplant softens a bit

Now add in the tomato paste, tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper, oregano and another pinch of kosher salt and black pepper

Mix well and saute for 8-10 minutes

Remove from heat.  Nestle the chicken parts into the veggies along with the juices

Note – make sure the thighs are put into the pan with the meat side down.  Halfway through, we’re going to flip all of the parts and then the thighs will be meat side up to finish cooking

Place the pan into your preheated oven on 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.  At this point, flip each chicken part and continue to bake until the temperature of the chicken reaches 160 degrees.  This takes approximately 10 minutes

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes

Garnish with fresh basil and re-season with kosher salt and black pepper if necessary.  We like to serve family style with a warm crusty baguette

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Enjoy!

Tools used to make this recipe

Architec Carving Board, Gripperwood

Cooks Standard Multi-Ply Clad Stainless Steel Tagine and Extra Glass Lid, 4.5-Quart

Zelite Infinity Santoku Knife

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