Mardi Michels' ratatouille tian

A recipe from the new In the French Kitchen with Kids cookbook

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There's no doubt that cooking is a great way to connect, especially with kids. In her new book, In the French Kitchen with Kids, teacher and popular blogger behind eat. live. travel. write blog, Mardi Michels, shows not only homecooks, but kids as well, that French food can be simple and cooking it together can be very rewarding. If you've watched the movie Ratatouille, you'll likely be familiar with this dish. You can find this recipe for ratatouille tian that's perfect for any season. 

Ratatouille tian

1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp flaky sea salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 baby eggplant, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
3 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced in rounds
1/2 tsp Herbs de Provence
olive oil, for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 400˚F (200˚C).

Place the onion slices and minced garlic in the bottom of a 5- x 7-inch (13 x 18 cm) baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper.

Stack the eggplant slices upright against the long side of the dish so

they are slightly overlapping each other. They should be quite tightly packed. Follow with a row of zucchini slices, arranged in the same manner. Next, make a row of tomato slices.

Continue in this manner until you have no more vegetable slices left.

You should have enough vegetable slices and room to make at least two rows of each vegetable.

Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the vegetables, sprinkle with the

Herbes de Provence, cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the foil from the dish, drizzle with a little more olive oil and

bake, uncovered, for a further 20 to 30 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through.

Season to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.