What happens when one of your favorite French vegetarian recipes happens to have all of the ingredients in season? Well, you turn it into the most beautiful summer pizza. I'd like to call this summer's bounty ratatouille pizza with sweet heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced zucchini, eggplant and a good sprinkle of fresh thyme leaves, creating a modern play off of the favorite French recipe
The garden did well for us this season. A few harvests of zucchini and tomatoes and some gorgeous eggplant, thanks to the farmers market. A perfect reason to thinly slice young zucchini and grate some gruyere for a fabulous ratatouille pizza.
Traditional Ratatouille Recipe
Traditional ratatouille is a beautifully layered French vegetable dish. I have made Julia Child's ratatouille and yes, even though it does take time, the results were well worth it.
This is the time when you use the best produce you can find. The sweetest tomatoes and tender zucchini. And a healthy sprinkling of herbes de Provence is a nice touch as well.
How to make Ratatouille Pizza
I have a slew of pizza recipes on the blog (check out my four-cheese pizza or spring pizza with pesto) where I add a few tips to making the best pizza. Now truth, I buy the dough, because for a few bucks it's totally worth it.
Leave your pizza dough out for at least an hour. This will help stretching the dough easier.
While dough is resting, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a pizza stone (one of my favorite tools), place that in the oven as it pre-heats.
Once you roll the dough to a 10-12 inch circle, spread a thin layer of marinara and dollop spoonfuls of ricotta cheese as well as a good sprinkle of herbes de provence.
Thinly slice an heirloom tomato, zucchini and eggplant and layer the slices in a circle, alternating the vegetables, making an attractive pattern.
Grate gruyere and Parmesan cheese and a good drizzle of olive oil and bake at 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-7 minutes, until the cheese has melted and pizza crust is puffed and golden.
Ratatouille Pizza
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Ingredients
- 1 pound pizza dough
- ¼ flour for rolling pizza
- 1 small- medium sized zucchini
- 1 medium sized eggplant
- 1-2 heirloom tomatoes
- ½ cup marinara
- ¼ cup ricotta cheese
- ½ teaspoon herbes de provence or more if you love the flavor
- ½ cup grated gruyere
- ¼ cup Parmesan grated
- Fresh thyme leaves + more for garnish
- Basil leaves
- Olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit and if you are using a baking stone, leave that in the oven as it pre-heats so it gets very hot. You can do this an hour before you're ready to assemble.
- While the oven is pre-heating, leave the pizza dough out at room temperature for at least an hour with some flour nearby to roll out.
- In the meantime, prep your vegetables. Using a mandolin or with good knife skills, slive the zucchini, eggplant and tomato into thin ¼ inch slices and set them aside. (Your eggplant may start to turn color and that's ok).
- On a floured surface, roll out your pizza dough into a 12 inch circle (you can also cut it in half and make a two 10 inch pizzas). Then spread a thin layer of marinara and dollop ricotta cheese on top, using a spoon to gently mix it in and sprinkle with Herbes de Provence.
- Layer the vegetables in an alternating circle, starting at the outer edge of the sauce and working your way in, overlapping the slices so it makes a pattern.
- Then top with grated Gruyere, grated parmesan and fresh thyme leaves, saving some for garnish. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and bake pizza on the baking stone for 7-10 minutes. The crust should be lightly golden brown and cheese melted.
- Once done, let cool slightly and garnish with fresh herbs.
Pizza Perfect says
Lovely pizzas...nice article!!