If you’ve ever visited Provence in late summer, you’ll know how abundant and beautiful the local produce is, with plump tomatoes, firm zucchini, and fragrant herbs adorning every market stall. 

The tian de ratatouille is a classic way to showcase these sun-ripened vegetables, layered artfully and baked slowly until tender and full of flavor.

While traditional ratatouille is more of a rustic stew, this tian version brings a little elegance to the table. It's perfect as a light lunch or a colorful side dish and it’s surprisingly easy to prepare. It will look like you’ve gone to much more trouble than you actually have!

Laura ready to cook

Laura ready to cook the tian, ©Laura Crotet

Instructions

  • Slice the eggplant into thin rounds. Put them in a bowl and lightly salt them. Let them sit for about 15-20 minutes to give their water, then rinse and pat dry. You can brush a little olive oil on each round, but I do not think this is necessary.
  • During this time, slide the zucchini, the tomatoes, and the onions into rounds.
  • Preheat the oven to 360°F.
  • Rub the bottom of your dish with a garlic clove that you did not cut, then put some olive oil in the dish.
  • Begin assembling the tian by arranging the sliced vegetables, alternating the colors. If you have a square dish like me, you can do this by lines. If you have a round dish, start on the outside and make a circular arrangement. As I did not want too much on an onion taste, I skipped every other turn for the onion.

The tian ready for the oven

The tian is ready for the oven, ©Laura Crotet

  • Sprinkle the top with the chopped garlic, herbes de Provence, salt & pepper, then drizzle with olive oil.
  • Cook in the oven for about 1 hour, until the vegetables are soft and are starting to turn golden on the top.

It is a great side dish for a BBQ, or can be enjoyed as is with a salad, a baked potato, or a crusty baguette (and of course, some rosé from the south of France).

 

The tian finished

Looks delicious! ©Laura Crotet

 

- Laura Crotet, France Just For You

If this recipe brings water to your mouth, you may want to check out our recipe for Pistou soup, another Riviera specialty.

France Just For You

Experts in self-drive tours in France

Travelers Reviews

5.0
Joel
We highly recommend Emilie’s services. She put together an excellent itinerary. She made all the arrangements and the guides she retained for us where top notch. The B&B accommodations were very good, the hosts were terrific and we enjoyed the other travelers we met at breakfast. We did two table d'hote dinners which were excellent and her …
Lynne & Jeff
In 2013 I had 2 big reasons to plan a trip to France: a new grand baby boy in Avignon, and I wanted to surprise my husband with a trip to Normandy. He absolutely loves anything and everything he can find to read or watch that is related to WWII. So, I started exploring online for a custom tour designer that could put together a great itinerary for …
William
Laura did such an amazing job tailoring our dream trip through the south of France. Everything was professionally done and the service and communication were perfect. Thanks to their hard work organising all of the minute details we were able to enjoy and relax all of the fun activities that they planned for us. And the guidebook is an absolute …
Bobbi
We like to travel independently and Emilie was fantastic in providing us everything we needed to do so. We had wonderful information to read beforehand and received maps and GPS coordinates to get us where we needed to go.This is a great service to use to set up your hotel and car arrangements along with suggested itineraries that can be modified …
Robert & Karen
Anyone planning a trip to France, whether for the first time or for the twelfth (like me), will benefit from the fabulous itinerary that Emilie can craft for you. My husband and I just returned from 2 1/2 weeks in the Medoc and the Loire Valley that Emilie planned for us: top-notch historic B&Bs with character, charming friendly hosts and sumptuous …
Peter
France-Just for You is the best agency/coordinator we have EVER used. We have traveled around the world to more than 50 countries and this was by far the best job of coordination we ever experienced. The owner, Emilie, lives in France and is 100% accessible by email or phone. We emailed her the first time we learned about her business and from then …