Healthy Baked Potato with Ratatouille | Curtis Stone

You bake the Provencal vegetables (tian in French), a classic casserole dish of thinly sliced vegetables of zucchini, eggplant, and tomatoes, in a shallow earthenware. As you see in the picture below, the tian looks stunning — a statement piece I reserve for special occasions. But it requires a fair amount of prep work and fussing. I won’t tell you the time it took me to cut and arrange the vegetables in a tight concentric circle following the contour of the baking dish. It’s too much! So for an everyday meal, this baked potato with ratatouille is more manageable. The combination of deliciousness and streamlined preparation is a win-win for me.

While the potatoes are baking, it’s time to prep the vegetables and sauté them in a pan over medium heat. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, I do not plan on going to the grocery store to get all the ingredients. I don’t have the eggplant, so I substitute it with mushroom. It turns out to be a wonderful substitution. The ratatouille mix can be made ahead of time.

Dry fry the slices of mushroom in another pan under high heat for 5 minutes. I prefer the dry approach of letting the mushrooms cook without the oil to naturally bring out their nutty flavor. Overall, the ingredients and the cooking technique make for a decidedly healthy dish.

The potatoes are ready when they are tender when pierced with a knife. Cut the potato lengthwise and spoon the ratatouille mixture on top. A dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of chives (season’s first from the herb patch) are again no-fuss finishing touches. I can use more dishes like this during the impending lockdown: comforting, nourishing and uplifting all at once.

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Print Recipe

Healthy Baked Potato with Ratatouille by Curtis Stone

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: one hour

Ingredients

• FOR THE POTATOES:
• 1 cup kosher salt

• 4 large russet potatoes
• 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt

• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 cup shaved or freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• FOR THE RATATOUILLE:
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large shallots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 small eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used mushroom)
• 1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

• 1/2 cup diced (1/2-inch) red and/or yellow bell peppers (preferably a combination)

• 1/4 cup dry red wine

• 3 ripe plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil leaves, optional

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2

Spread the salt in a thin layer on a small, rimmed baking sheet. Pierce the potatoes with a fork, then nestle them in the salt and sprinkle a small amount of the salt over them. Bake the potatoes for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until tender when pierced with a small sharp knife. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes (discard the salt). Wipe off any excess salt on the outside of the potatoes.

3

Meanwhile, to make the ratatouille:

4

Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, then add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring often, for about 2 minutes, or until tender. Add the eggplant, zucchini, and bell peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the eggplant is softened. Add the wine and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down into a coarse sauce. Season generously with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat.

5

To serve:

6

Cut each potato one at a time, lengthwise and then crosswise in half, almost but not quite all the way through, and squeeze the ends to open it up. Divide the ratatouille among the potatoes.

7

Transfer the potatoes to a plate, then top with the yogurt, chives, and Parmesan cheese, and serve hot.

Notes

http://www.curtisstone.com/recipe/healthy-baked-potato-ratatouille