eggplant Archives - The Little Kitchen

Stuffed Eggplant

Julie Deily — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 22:20:23 +0000

Cooking is how I show my love for my family and friends. Is it that way for you? I know it's that way for Sara…it was a blast cooking with her in Italy along with Mike and Martha. She is a funloving Italian grandmother who is serious about fresh ingredients only going into the food she cooks for her family. Even better from our trip to Italy last year, we gained two friends, Mike and Martha!

There's Mike! Mike was the Michael Angelo's sweepstakes winner. After our trip, we have been emailing together and Martha is so sweet, she leaves comments on my recipes and on facebook. I wish they didn't live so far away in Oregon.

Do you love eggplant as much as I do? I'm sharing a variation of Sara's (above) stuffed eggplant recipe that I learned while cooking with her in Italy.

Use a knife to score the sides. And then use a spoon to scoop out the insides of the eggplant.

Sara's secret is to add salt to allow the eggplant to sweat.

Dice the eggplant you scooped out.

Cook the uncased mild Italian chicken sausage in a heavy-bottomed pot. I used a French oven. I added chicken sausage which is not in Sara's original recipe. When it's done cooking, remove the sausage.

Cook the onion and then add the garlic.

Cook the eggplant down.

Ahhh, I know this doesn't look appetizing but if you're an eggplant lover like me, you know how good this tastes.

Add the sausage back to to pot and add breadcrumbs.

And cook the filling down even more.

These eggplant pieces have been rinsed and dried.

Add the filling to the eggplant.

Ladle in the tomato sauce. Add some sauce to the eggplant. Cover with foil and bake.

Remove from the oven and add the sliced fresh mozzarella on top of the eggplant and broil for about 5 minutes.

Look at those cheetah spots. That's what Curtis calls those brown spots on cheese. We loved this meal when we had it in Italy and love being able to make it at home! Serve with spaghetti and garlic bread and it's a meal. Comfort food for sure!

Stuffed Eggplant Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Ingredients

2 eggplants cleaned and dried
salt
5 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound chicken or pork mild Italian sausage uncased
1/3 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove smashed, peeled and minced
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 Tablespoon capers drained and smashed

Tomato Sauce

2/3 cup diced onion about 3/4 medium onion
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves smashed, peeled and minced
28 ounce can of whole peeled plum tomatoes with or without basil is fine
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese sliced
uncooked pasta prepared according to directions or homemade pasta

Instructions

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Halve the eggplants and scoop out the middle. It may be helpful to cut out of the edges and then scoop out. Rub with salt and let stand to sweat. Dice the eggplant innards that you scooped out. (Right now is a good time to start the sauce.)
Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a French oven and add sausage. Use wooden spatula to break up the sausage. Cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cooked sausage and place in a clean bowl. Set aside.
Add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to French oven. Add onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add eggplant and 2 more Tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add back the cooked sausage and breadcrumbs and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes. The breadcrumbs should be soaked into the eggplant mixture.
Remove eggplant filling from heat and add capers and mix. Season with salt and pepper. Rinse out eggplant shell halves and wipe dry with a paper towel. Place upside on a covered baking sheet to remove excess water.
Stuff eggplant with cooked eggplant mixture and place in a casserole baking dish. Ladle tomato sauce into the baking dish underneath the eggplant and a little bit on top of each eggplant.
Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees F.
Uncover and add sliced mozzarella cheese on top each of each eggplant to cover. Bake for another 5 minutes and then broil for another 5 minutes. Serve with cooked pasta.

Tomato Sauce

In a heavy bottomed pot, sauté the onion with olive oil for about 3 to 5 minutes on medium high, until onions are softened. Add garlic and cook for 60 to 90 seconds.
Add whole tomatoes with juice plus 1 cup of water to the pot. Break down tomatoes with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add dried basil. Lower heat and allow sauce to simmer while prepping the rest of the eggplant dish. Season with salt and pepper.

Disclosure: Thanks to Michael Angelo's who hosted me on my trip to Italy. I only work with brands that I love and always share with you my honest opinions.

The post Stuffed Eggplant appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna

Julie Deily — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:10:16 +0000

Let's just say I love lasagna. I have been disappointed that we can't have lasagna lately because of my husband's lactose intolerance (of course I asked his permission before I posted this). His intolerance is more towards ricotta cheese and heavy cream. Thank goodness we can still have other cheeses, milks and butters! He came home with a Cook's Illustrated Make Ahead Meals magazine issue and one of the recipes we had to try was the roasted zucchini and eggplant lasagna.

We have made this recipe twice and it has become our favorite lasagna recipe. This recipe is going into the favorites pile and will probably become a part of our regular rotation. The problem is it makes tons, too much for two people to eat. I have brought it into work and my co-workers love it!

Cook's Illustrated recommends that we use Barilla's no boil pasta and it definitely works. Also, for the roasted vegetables, I upped the amount of eggplant from one pound to one and a half pounds and that worked as well. I don't know about you but it's hard to get a full dinner from scratch made after a full day of work. Every time I have made this recipe, I roasted the vegetables the night before according to the instructions. Then allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes and then place into a plastic container where I let it cool for another 20-30 minutes before putting it in the refrigerator. The next night, I assemble the lasagna and there is no need to heat up the roasted vegetables.

Assembling the lasagna

Right before it goes into the oven

This picture really does not do it justice. The roasting of the vegetables is what gives this dish its depth of flavor.

Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Resting Time 15

Total Time 2 35

Ingredients

Vegetables

1 pound of zucchini cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 1/2 pounds of eggplant cut into 1/2 inch dice
3 Tbsp olive oil
4 minced garlic cloves
salt and pepper

Sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium garlic cloves minced
1 28- oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

Lasagna

12 no boil lasagna noodles from an 8-oz or 9-oz box
1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese about 4 cups
3 oz Parmesan cheese about 1 1/2 cups

Instructions

Move oven racks to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss the diced zucchini and eggplant with garlic, salt, pepper and 3 Tbsp of olive oil.
On two cookie sheets covered in foil that is greased with olive oil, divide the diced vegetables and spread evenly over the cookie sheets.
Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Be sure to turn the vegetables occasionally and I even switch the cookie sheets' position. (As stated above, the roasting of the vegetables can be done a day ahead of time.)
Add 2 Tbsp of olive oil and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a pot at medium heat. Allow the garlic to cook for 30 seconds, don't burn the garlic.
Add the crushed tomatoes to the pot with olive oil and garlic. Add a little bit of salt to taste. Cook at medium heat for about 2 minutes. Bring down to simmer and cook until thickened for another 5 minutes. Mix in basil and salt and pepper to taste. Pour sauce into a large measuring cup and add enough water to make about 4 cups.
In a 9x13 baking dish (I use a glass one), add about 1/2 to 1/3 cup of sauce and spread the sauce out.
Lay three noodles over the sauce and make sure they don't touch each other or the sides of the baking dish.
Spread evenly 1/3 cup of the roasted vegetables on top of each of the lasagna noodles you just laid down.
Take 2/3 cup of sauce and pour evenly over the vegetables.
Pour 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese over the sauce.
Repeat steps 8-11 twice.
For the final layer, lay three noodles on the top and spread evenly the remaining (approximately) 1 cup of sauce over the noodles. Be sure to cover the noodles entirely. Then pour 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and move your oven rack to the middle position.
Cover the 9x13 baking dish with foil that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
Bake for 25 minutes. Then, remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the cheese is "spotty" brown.
Allow the lasagna to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Notes

Slightly modified from Cook's Illustrated.

I hope you try this dish because it's completely worth it! Do you have a favorite lasagna recipe? Which one's your favorite? I would love for you to share with me links. Thanks!

The post Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna appeared first on The Little Kitchen.