1 post tagged “eggplant”
ingredients:
one whole eggplant
celery
chili peppers
ricotta cheese
pecorino romano
thyme
can of whole peeled tomatoes
salt & pepper
i had an eggplant from the park slope farmer's market. to begin, slice the thing in half, lengthwise. to scoop out the insides, make a long cut through the flesh, and then several cross cuts -- comme ca:
then, using a large spoon, scoop out the insides and reserve them in a bowl, thusly:
set the scooped out flesh aside, and turn your attention to the big pieces. in a large saute pan, brown the cut side.
when out of the oil, lightly salt and set aside.
step two: the stuffing
in another pot, sweat celery and chili peppers in some live oil. add the scooped out eggplant, brown, then add salt.
add half of the canned tomatoes, but not the liquid from the can.
cook down, then add some freshly shaved pecorino romano. stir it through, then turn off the heat.
step three: assembly
spread some ricotta on the fired eggplant. then load on the stuffing.
when all the stuffing is in, top with some more pecorino.
step four: cooking
in a large pan, heat some olive oil, and add the remaining tomatoes (still reserving the juice). add the eggplant, skin side down, and cook for a moment. add the tomato juice, then top with some more pecorino, and then some sprigs of thyme.
cover the whole shebang and turn down the heat. cook for about 20 minutes, covered. make some pasta on the side.
step five: plating
remove the eggplant, turn up the heat, and add the cooked pasta to the braising liquid.
i cut an eggplant apart to see the layers and juice ran out everywhere. maybe i should have set the stuffing with egg and breadcrumbs. still, damned delicious.
