I will eat this here and there… Ratatouille Toast with Fried Egg
For some reason, I have had a serious aversion to eggplant. I probably sounded like the beloved Suess character who does not like green eggs and ham, he does not like them, Sam I am!
But something changed my mind. It was not a goat, boat, house, mouse, box, or even an adorable fox. It was a picture in a magazine. The photo was so appetizing that before I could say Wizzer-wazzar-what I had picked up all the ingredient, “aproned up”, and started dicing.
Just to be on the safe side I decided to add bacon. After all, one can never be too careful when introducing eggplant to the family menu! A little bacon can go along way in settling hostility at the dinner table.
The smells that came together were magical. The taste..well I will let the photos speak for themselves.
I quickly found myself saying, “I do so like eggplant and toast. I will eat it coast-to-coast! ”
For those who just can not eat eggplant..no judgment here. Replace eggplant ingredient with more zucchini! I also made mine with a rosemary parmesan artesian load from Costco. So amazing and this could be served for brunch as well as dinner. It was super savory.
Bonus tip: The ratatouille can be made up in advance and served the following day. Just imagine needing to put bread in the toaster, fry up the eggs, and warm up the veggies.
Ratatouille Toast with Fried Egg and Bacon
Ingredients
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup olive oil - or bacon drippings if you decide to cook up bacon to crumble on top.
- 2 cups diced tomatoes- we had so many cherry tomatoes from our garden I just halved or quartered them for this.
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 eggplant diced into 1/2 inch squares - about 2 cups
- 2 small zucchini cut into 1/2 inch pieces - about 2 cups
- 2 red onions cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 bay leaf
- optional- bacon 6 slices..who am I kidding! Make it 12!
- 1 red or green bell pepper cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 cup chopped basil
- 6 large eggs
- 6 slices of sourdough bread toasted
Instructions
- In a large skillet heat 2 tbs of olive oil. Add tomatoes, 1/4 of crushed red pepper and season with salt and pepper. Cook tomatoes over moderate heat, stirring occasionally until softened. About 5 minutes. scrape tomatoes in medium sized sauce pan.
- Add remaining olive oil - or bacon drippings- to skillet. Add crushed garlic, remaining vegetables, and red pepper flakes. Cook until softened. Stir gently.
- Scrape cooked vegetables into saucepan with tomatoes.
- Add bay leaf, 1/2 cup chopped basil and 1/2 cup water to vegetables and stir.
- Cover and cook over low to medium heat until vegetables are soft and the smell is so amazing that your neighbors start to drop in to see how you week was.
- Discard bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper and let cool slightly.
- In a large non-stick pan, lightly coat bottom with oil, or bacon drippings and fry up 2 or 3 eggs at a time, just until the whites are firm. Season with salt and pepper.
- To serve- spoon ratatouille onto toasts and top with eggs. add chopped basil and crumbled bacon.
