With Mother’s Day coming up in a few days (mark your calendars, forgetful fools! May 11th), we had to post a Mother’s Day Brunch recipe. I remember when we would make breakfast in bed for our mom growing up.
We’d get up early, and I would scour the house for something resembling a breakfast tray. Kaitlin would go outside and pluck flowers from the neighbor’s yard (…uh, just kidding?). Those breakfasts usually consisted of some buttered toast, cut fruit, a sunny side up egg, and maybe some slightly overcooked bacon. Pretty standard.
Well, kids. If you want to overachieve this year, give this one a try: The Ratatouille Brunch Egg Bake.
Yes, our obsession with Ratatouille continues. We’ve done a complete 180, from mildly tolerating this French peasant dish to absolutely loving it. Ever since we posted our very well-received Roasted Ratatouille Pasta, a recipe devised by my crafty dad, we’ve made the Roasted Ratatouille a few more times just to keep the leftovers around—whether it’s to eat it with bread, pasta, or to make this Ratatouille Brunch Egg Bake, that ratatouille recipe can be used in a ton of different ways.
The ratatouille brunch egg bake dish is completely vegetarian, by the way. If you happen to be vegetarian, you must make this. If you happen to not be vegetarian…you must make this. It’s the perfect one-pan breakfast or brunch and will really impress on Mother’s Day!
It’s simple to make while being really complex in flavor and texture: you’ve got crunchy, buttery croutons on the bottom, sweet ratatouille, gooey cheese, runny egg yolk from the baked eggs, herbs, and spicy crushed red pepper. Served with a bit of fruit, it’s a major showstopper.
Recipe Instructions
To make the Ratatouille, here’s a simplified version of our “Roasted Ratatouille” recipe. Mix together all of the following ingredients until well combined.
- 2 cups each of diced zucchini, eggplant, and onion
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 sun-dried tomatoes, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning
- salt and fresh black pepper
Roast on a parchment lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, turning once halfway through baking. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Take five minutes to have all your ingredients ready…
And over medium heat, melt the butter in a cast iron skillet or other large pan.
Add the bread cubes to the pan and toss the bread around until it’s lightly toasted. Arrange the bread so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan in one layer (you might need more bread to cover the bottom of your pan, depending on the pan’s size).
Spoon the roasted ratatouille over the bread in one layer…
And sprinkle on the cheese. You can use whatever kind you like. We used Irish Cheddar.
Crack your eggs over the cheese, spacing them evenly apart. Dot the cherry tomatoes around the eggs.
Transfer the pan to your preheated oven and allow to cook until the egg whites are set, but the yolks are still runny, about 12-18 minutes. Yes, that’s a pretty wide range, but all ovens are different. You just want to make sure the eggs don’t overcook accidentally. (Like I kinda did. Luckily, they were still runny inside, and crisis was averted.) When you begin to reach the end of your cooking time, just check the pan regularly.
Take the pan out of the oven and garnish with coarse sea salt, cracked black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, basil, and thyme. Serve with a bit of fruit for an amazing Mother’s Day breakfast. We highly recommend blood oranges.
Happy early Mother’s Day!
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Recipe
Ratatouille Brunch Egg Bake
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 cups rustic Italian or French bread (cut into 1-inch cubes)
- 2 cups leftover ratatouille (link to recipe)
- 2/3 cup grated cheese (whatever kind you like)
- 3-5 eggs
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
- salt and pepper
- crushed red pepper flakes
- Fresh basil
- Fresh thyme
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a cast iron skillet or other large pan. Add the bread cubes to the pan and toss the bread around until it’s lightly toasted. Arrange the bread so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan in one layer (you might need more bread to cover the bottom of your pan, depending on the pan’s size).
- Spoon the ratatouille over the bread in one layer and sprinkle on the cheese. Crack your eggs over the cheese, spacing them evenly apart. Dot the cherry tomatoes around the eggs.
- Transfer the pan to your preheated oven and allow to cook until the egg whites are set, but the yolks are still runny, about 12-16 minutes. When you begin to reach the end of your cooking time, check the pan regularly. You don’t want to accidentally overcook the eggs!
- Take the pan out of the oven and garnish with coarse sea salt, cracked black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, basil, and thyme.
