These sun-kissed ratatouille stuffed tomatoes are so scrumptious for a light meal or side dish! With spring springing and gardens started to bloom, it’s the perfect time to start thinking of dishes you can make from your homegrown garden. But, don’t worry if you don’t garden. You can find everything you need for rustic ratatouille stuffed tomatoes at your local grocer. This savory Mediterranean dish is flavorful, hearty, vibrant, aromatic, wholesome, and oh so comforting! All you really need is a slice of French bread and you have a meal.
What is Ratatouille? Movie or French dish?
One of our very favorite veggie dishes is ratatouille, a typical provencal stewed vegetable dish originating from Nice. Rich in sun-kissed colors and flavors, Ratatouille is very versatile as a side dish or main course. Traditionally, ratatouille is stewed on the stovetop, but we love to roast or grill our veggies, because roasting intensifies the flavors, which is great for these rustic stuffed tomatoes. Ratatouille normally includes tomatoes, garlic, onions, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, and various herbs. Since we are huge olive lovers, we roast Greek olives and artichoke hearts along with the other veggies to include in our ratatouille. This is such a wonderful addition!
These rustic ratatouille stuffed tomatoes combine the juicy sweetness of ripe tomatoes with the savory goodness of ratatouille. The tomatoes are hollowed out and filled with a ratatouille mixture and then topped with your favorite cheese before baking. It’s a delicious and visually appealing dish!
How to Make Ratatouille in the Oven
Ratatouille is actually very simple to make. All you need to do is gather the veggies you want to include, and cut them into medium-sized pieces, or slices. Eggplant does need to be sweated first, by sprinkling salt on the top and bottom of each slice and allowing them to sit on a tray or cooling rack for about 15-20 minutes. Then add the eggplant to the rest of the veggies in a roasting pan and toss them with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and whatever herbs you like best — thyme and oregano are my favorites for this dish. Roast the veggies at 400 F for about 35-40 minutes, or until they are cooked through but still have some integrity.
How to Make Rustic Ratatouille on the Grill
If you decide to make your ratatouille on the barbecue, which gives it a richer flavor even than in the oven, you can use the upper rack of the grill for the eggplant slices. Sweat them first, and then brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill them until slightly browned and cooked through. Meanwhile, put the bell pepper and zucchini in an aluminum pan and cook on the upper rack of the grill for about 3-4 minutes per side, turning them halfway. You want them to have some charred areas. In a second aluminium pan, place the tomatoes and onions and cook them on the lower rack of the grill for 10-15 minutes, stirring every so often. These will become juicier than the other veggies. Once cooked, remove all of the veggies to a rimmed cutting board and chop before stuffing into the hollowed tomatoes.
Rustic Ratatouille Stuffed Tomatoes
To complete the stuffed tomatoes, pick your favorite way to make the ratatouille. While the ratatouille is cooking, it’s time to hollow out the tomatoes. We find that a serrated knife is best for cutting off the top of the tomato and then a grapefruit knife works great for hollowing out the tomatoes. (If you are ambitious, save the insides of the tomato and make tomato sauce for another time.) Once you have the tomatoes hollowed out, set aside until the ratatouille is cooled and chopped before stuffing them. Top the filled tomatoes with your favorite grated cheese, goat cheese or Boursin before baking.
If you love tomato recipes, please check out our Tomatoes Provençal for a delicious and super easy side dish.
Ratatouille Stuffed Tomatoes
Equipment
- 1 large roasting pan
- 2 medium aluminum tins (if you plan to grill the veggies on the barbecue)
Ingredients
Ratatouille
- 1 large red onion (peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges)
- 1 medium eggplant (stem removed, cut into 1/2-inch rounds)
- 1 large orange or red bell pepper (stem and seeds removed and cut into 3-inch pieces)
- 1 large zucchini (cut into 3-inch pieces and then quartered)
- 4 large Roma tomatoes (stem removed and cut into quarters)
- 1 cup Greek green olives (Mt. Athos are fantastic in this, but Castelvetrano also work well)
- 1 cup artichokes hearts (marinated work well for this)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. lemon pepper
- 1 tsp. fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
Tomatoes
- 8 medium tomatoes (we use vine tomatoes for this)
- 3 oz. feta, goat, grated Parmesan, or Fontina cheese
Instructions
Ratatouille
- Heat oven to 400℉, or preheat grill to medium-high. Spray a roasting pan or aluminum baking pans with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix olive oil with all of the spices and herbs.
- Remove stem of eggplant and slice into 1/2-inch slices. Place them on a baking cooling rack or a tray. Lightly salt tops and bottoms of eggplant rounds and allows to “sweat” for about 15 minutes. Mop up any liquid you see on top and bottom of the eggplant with a paper towel.
- Prepare remaining veggies and toss with olive oil-seasoning mixture. Place veggies all in the roasting pan, or in the separate barbecue aluminum tins for cooking.
- Roast veggies for about 25-30 minutes in the oven, until veggies begin to caramelize and become fragrant. They should be tender, but still in tact for this recipe.Remove from oven and cool.
- If you plan to grill the veggies, place eggplant directly on the top rack of your grill, brush tops and bottoms with a little of the olive oil mixture and cook until tender and beginning to brown, flipping once during cooking. Remove from grill and set aside. Place the bell peppers and zucchini in one aluminum tin and the onions and tomatoes in another tin. Toss all of the veggies with the remaining olive oil mixture. Cook the peppers and zucchini on the top rack of the oven until tender and beginning to brown, turning once. Cook tomatoes and onions on the bottom rack of the grill, until cooked through and jammy, stirring often. Remove all veggies once cooked to a cutting board.
- Once cooled, chop veggies coarsely and mix well. Spoon mixture to fill each of the hollowed tomatoes. This can be done several hours ahead of time and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator.
Hollow out Tomatoes
- Cut off the tops of the tomatoes. Using a serrated knife or grapefruit spoon, remove the tomato pulp from the center, leaving a large cavity with the edges of the tomato about 1/4-inch thick.
Baking the Stuffed Tomatoes
- When ready to bake the stuffed tomatoes, you have a choice again to roast them in the oven or grill them. Preheat oven to 400 ℉ or heat grill to medium-high. Remove tomatoes from the refrigerator, place them in a baking dish, and top them with your favorite cheese, or no cheese if you prefer.
- Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender, the ratatouille is heated through and the cheese is melted.
- Or, place the stuffed tomatoes in a tray and cook on the upper rack of the grill for about 5-7 minutes.
- Serve hot with a sprig of thyme or oregano as a garnish.
