Ratatouille is a great chicken dish to warm up a cold winter night. Instead of the tradition french stew we bake the dish in the oven until the chicken becomes tender and melts in your mouth. We all know how delicious this stew is and that there are many recipes made using different cooking methods. Despite the fact that this recipe is not a stew, you still get the stew/soupy appearance out of the dish due to the excess vegetables juice when baked in the oven. While I use a different method to cook this dish I retained the classic traditional vegetables to keep the somewhat traditional flavour you get from the stew.
This recipe is a one pot dish so choose the right pot for the dish to avoid transferring the stew at later stage.
BAKED CHICKEN RATATOUILLE
Prep-Time: 15 mins Serve: 4-6
Cooking Time: 40 mins
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
2 red onions, cut into wedges
1 red capsicum, chopped
1 medium sized eggplant, sliced
2 zucchini, chopped
4 tomatoes, half
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, mince
1 tsp mild paprika
10 basil leaves
1 1/4 cup water/ 1 1/4 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Method
Preheat oven at 170°C Fan
Heat the oil in a pan or in an oven and flame proof pot over medium high heat. Brown the chicken on all sides. Remove the browned chicken from the pan and set aside. (Transfer the chicken into a large baking dish if you don’t have an oven and flame proof pot).
In the same pan/pot add in the onions and cook for 3 minutes or until soft and then add in the garlic and paprika and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Now add in the capsicum and eggplant, cook for 3 minutes to allow to coat with oil and then add in the zucchini. Stir in the tomato paste and the water/chicken stock and cook for 3-5 minutes or until the liquid is heated.
Return the browned chicken into the pot (transfer the already semi cooked vegetables into the chicken baking dish if you are not using an oven and flame proof pot). Season with salt and pepper and then cover with a lid and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Add in the tomatoes and basil and cook for a further 20-30 minutes.
