Recipe: Baked Eggplant w/ tomato sauce and mozzarella

This one is a keeper, folks. We've been getting a lot of eggplant in our CSA deliveries lately and I pulled out a book everyone on our staff received last year - Placer County Real Food by Joanne Neft.  It is a book that celebrates seasonal food grown locally and I dearly love the way it is laid out into the 52 weeks of the year. I didn't do it this year but if I remember I'll make it my new year's resolution to try a recipe out of every week next year. Could make for good blogging!

For now - make this using home grown tomatoes and any other ingredient you can pull from your garden or the farmer's market instead of the grocery store... you won't regret it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4 small or 2 large eggplants, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch slices

(I did not peel mine and it turned out delicious)

1/4 cup plus 3 TBSP olive oil

1 cup bell peppers, diced (I used red and green)

3 cups tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeds removed and diced (because I am basically lazy - I did not peel, blanch or remove the seeds - I simply diced and threw them in the skillet - and lived to tell about it)

2 cups onions (it doesn't specify what to do with the onions so I just sliced them)

1 lb fresh Mozzarella, sliced (I didn't have fresh on hand but I bet it would be even more fabulous had I)

1/2 cup Thai basil, diced (I just used plain ole' basil from my garden)

Salt and pepper to taste

Brush olive oil on both sides of eggplant slices and place on parchment lined baking pan. Bake until eggplant is easily pierced with a fork. (Check at 15 minutes and then every few minutes until done.)

Remove from oven, leave on pan.

Saute peppers in 1 TBSP olive oil until soft. Add diced tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Add diced basil and hold on low heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

In another large saute pan, place 2 TBSP olive oil and over medium heat, carmelize the onions until soft. (7-10 minutes, maybe longer if you like them really carmelized)

 

Top each slice of eggplant ith a small spoonful of onions,

 

then a slice of mozzarella and a sprinkle of salt.

 

Return eggplant to the oven until the mozzarella melts.

The directions say to next spoon 1/3 cup tomato sauce on to a plate, top with eggplant and garnish with basil. I did it backwards:

 

Put the eggplant on a plate and top with the tomato sauce. And it was just delicious. This can be an appetizer or a main dish and is just as good the next day (as I can personally attest).

Yum. Summer food.

Comments

[Bill Richardson]

You can make this as a lasagna as well. Just use the eggplant slices instead of noodles... everything else goes together the same way... layering eggplant, tomatoes, cheese... right up to the top.

[Magpie]

That sounds GREAT, Bill!