Mini-Cocottes are much cuter than Regular-Cocottes

Deliciousness in tiny portions: mini-cocottes with carotte/coconut milk puree and tomato soup
topped with a large crouton topped with tapenade.

Although this title may also apply to the second definition of cocotte (see: a woman with loose morals), cocottes are more respectfully defined as single-serving baking dishes, typically with handles and a lid. In the past year or so, the mini-cocottes, which does not fit much more than a few (regular-sized) spoonfuls of food, have become more popular. Especially for apéritif (or apéro)! If you have experienced French culture, then you know one of their favorite (or is it just mine?) time is apéro... the time before dinner where you drink (something light, like a kir or beer), have some snackies, and socialize.

For Christmas I received (and actually, also gave) mini-cocotte sets and mini-cocotte apéro recipe books. There is a nice combo pack by José Maréchal sold in France for less than 16€ , although I just looked on Amazon.com and it was selling there for $46. But imagine all the little casseroles you can make in these! Now that my life has settled down a bit, I decided to finally make my first mini-cocotte attempt. Pictured above is the carotte and coconut milk puree, topped with marinated cilantro and  warm tomato and onion soup topped with a crispy crouton and olive tapenade spread. They took less than 30 minutes to make each, and were both super delicious and super cute.