Zucchini, Tomato & Eggs: Pan-cooked and Slow-cooker methods

I love the recipe for pan-cooked zucchini & tomatoes with eggs in Martha Rose Shulman’s Mediterranean Harvest cookbook. It is a ratatouille-like dish, to which eggs are placed on top and then baked. I can’t describe how good this tastes! Here I have done 2 versions of it, one fairly close to her recipe, using summer squash instead of zucchini, the other being my slow cooker interpretation, using a mixture of zucchini and eggplant (since I did not have enough zucchini in the house). Both came out delicious and show a range and mix of ingredients that can be used based on what you have available.

Ingredients for the pan-cooked:

And for the slow-cooker:

As you can see, both are beautiful color combinations!

Martha Rose’s Pan-Cooked Version:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced (from Farmer Kim)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds zucchini or summer squash, diced

2 pounds tomato, chopped (from the garden)

1/2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

1/4 cup water

freshly ground black pepper

4 eggs (from Farmer Kim)

Heat the oil in a large, oven-proof non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring til just tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the bell pepper and cook another 5 minutes, until the vegetables are softening.

Add the garlic and cook a minute or two, until fragrant. Add the zucchini/squash and toss together for a couple of minutes until coated with oil and beginning to look translucent.

Add the tomatoes, sugar, and a generous amount of salt.

Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring often, for 5-10 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down slightly. Add the water, stir, and reduce heat to medium. Cook, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes, stirring oftern and pressing down on the zucchini with the back of a spoon, until the vegetables are soft and easy to mash. Keep pressing so that the dish thickens and the zucchini breaks down a bit.

Heat oven to 400F.

Taste, adjust seasoning and add the pepper. Using the back of a spoon, make indents and add the eggs in the indents.

Cook for about 9 minutes, until the eggs are cooked through (you still want the yolks to be a bit runny)

Serve hot or warm with a hearty bread or toast. Enjoy!

Serves 4.

Andrea’s Slow Cooker Version:

1 large onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced (from Farmer Kim)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds zucchini or (1 pound zucchini and 1 pound eggplant, diced & Kosher salt) From the garden

2 pounds tomato, chopped (from the garden)

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 eggs (from Farmer Kim) – I only used 3 eggs tonight since I only had 3 diners

If using eggplant – Place eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with kosher salt. Let stand for 15-20 minutes, then rinse and drain.

Place all ingredients in the slow cooker, stir to mix well.

Set the cooker to low for 8 hours.

At the end of 8 hours, preheat the oven to 400F. Open the lid and check the moisture level. If there is still too much moisture, set on high – leave uncovered – and cook, stirring occasionally until the dish thickens up. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.