What to do with eggplant? Pasta Sauce!

So last year we were inundated with eggplant. I think there was a research project that the farm was doing w/ NC A&T.  This year it's not been so much, but still, the eggplant and tomatoes are in full force right now.  I've definitely figured out a few things to do w/ eggplant which you can find if  you click the "eggplant" label over there -->

But I wanted to try something new, so I searched "eggplant" on https://smittenkitchen.com, and Deb, per usual did not disappoint.  She had many recipes for eggplant, but this recipe for Rigatoni and Eggplant Puree really got my attention, since I had eggplant AND a pint of cherry tomatoes in this weeks (and last week's) CSA.

I made it pretty much as described.  The only big difference was that I only made 6 oz of  pasta (it was just the two of us) and used half the sauce it made, and I only used  4 tbs of oilve oil instead of 6.  I also added 6 of these Turkey Meatballs from Trader Joes, thawed and cut into quarters.  The puree is definitely not photo-worthy, but it was pretty tasty overall!
Some pics!
The ingredients! (full disclosure, the eggplants were from last week)

Getting the roasted veg into the food processor:

This was a little tricky b/c the Al foil I'd put on the baking sheet had a hole and the juices from the veg had welded the foil to the sheet.  It all worked out.

Mixing up the sauce with the rigatoni.  Needed 2-3 scoops of pasta water to loosen it up.

Plated up with a little parm and basil garnish...
Oh, and Rudy was jealous b/c Dudley got featured in the last post, so here he is:

Grilled veggie sandwiches

A lot of produce to use up this week!  A huge zuchinni from last week, and the eggplant is starting up again, along with the bell peppers.  Plus we got a good bunch of basil (not to mention the plants in my yard going crazy) and the red onions are starting to pile up.  Time to grill some veggies!  Slice up whatever veggies you like about 1/4" thick or a little less, spray or brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill on a HOT grill about 3-4 min per side.  One exception, for peppers, slice into planks and grill the skin side until blackened and charred a bit, transfer to a bowl, cover tightly with foil and let cool.  Once cooled, peel the skins off.  After all that you get a nice looking collection of veggies:

Get yourself some nice crusty rolls (I used some square ciabatta rolls from Lowes), slice in half, then spray or brush with olive oil and toast.  Spread the bottom half with some basil pesto (2-3 tsp). Pile on whatever and however many of the veggies you like (eggplant, peppers and onions are my fav), then top with sliced fresh mozzarella and run it under the broiler until the cheese is good and melty.  Spread the top half of the roll with some basil pesto (2-3 tsp), smash on top of the sandwich and eat!  In retrospect it might be good to sprinkle the roasted vegetables with some balsamic vinegar as well.

Here's the pesto recipe I use, it's an old Cooking Light recipe from September '95, I can't find it online and they killed my favorite magazine so I reproduce it without guilt here:
Basil Pesto (makes about 1 cup)
2 tbs pine nuts
2 large garlic cloves
3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
2 tbs grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp lemon juice
3 tbs olive oil

If you can do it w/o burning them, toast the pine nuts in a dry pan.  If you're like me and you've burned them and you just want to get the damn recipe done and have dinner,  substitute untoasted, they'll be fine.  You can also try other nuts - I want to check out pistachios some day.  Anyhow, once you've resolved whatever nut crisis you might be having, fling them and the rest of the ingredients into some kind of food processor and process until it's a smooth paste.  Keeps a few days in the fridge and can be frozen (ice cube trays work great!).

everything can be a pizza or flatbread

So you need lunch or dinner fast.  You look in the fridge and see an assortment of odds and ends and think - "Hey, that might make a good pizza/flatbread".  Using this technique described by Kenji Lopez-Alt, all you need is a 10" flour tortilla, a heavy skillet or frying pan and some toppings.  What did I have?  Cheese, some grilled eggplant (from last week's CSA), some grilled chicken and garlic confit in olive oil I'd made using this Vivian Howard recipe for a butterbean hummus I still need to make.

Technique:

Heat a skillet (cast iron or  I use a  ceramic non-stick) over medium high heat  and add 1-2 tsp of olive oil.  Pre-heat the broiler and adjust a rack to 6-8" below the broiler. Have all your toppings ready to go.  For this pizza, I used:

Large flour tortilla
Garlic confit in olive oil (see recipe above - used garlic from the CSA)
Chopped grilled eggplant (from last week's CSA)
Chopped grilled chicken
Mozarella cheese

For this, I used 1-2 tsp of the oil from the garlic confit to spread over the tortilla as "sauce".  
Once the oil in the skillet is smoking hot, use a paper towel to wipe the oil out of the pan, leaving a thin coating behind.  Drop in the tortilla, rough side down (oil side up!) and reduce heat to low.  Add your toppings (chopped confit garlic clove, eggplant and chicken) and cover w/ mozzarella.  Try to spread the cheese to the edge of the tortilla.  Put the plan under the broiler and heat for 2-4 minutes until the cheese is browned and bubbly.  Remove from oven and use a spatula to release the pizza from the pan - if it's not quite browned and crispy enough of the bottom, heat carefully over medium heat, swirling the pan.  Remove from pan to a cutting board, slice into pizza-style triangles or squares if you're a rebel and serve.

Adapt this technique to whatever ingredients you have on hand!

Week 5 CSA Share beauty shot

I've been remiss about posting what we get each week, so here you go Iain:

What's in this week's basket?

• The triumphant return of SALAD MIX! (0.5 lbs)
• Kale (0.5 lbs)
• 1 bunch mustard greens
• 2 bell peppers (I got a green and a red)
• Eggplant (1 lb)
• Okra (2/3 lb)
• 1 head garlic
• Broccoli (1lb)
• Sweet potatoes (2 lbs)

Chopped and washed the greens, but didn't make anything with the basket tonight.  I can tell you to look for a sauerkraut post soon, though!

More Casserole - Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Here's another great casserole to use all the veggies from the box.  It's based on this recipe from Giada de Laurentis on the Food Network. I use a variety of vegetables depending on what I have.  I also vary the cheese, and the amount of pasta.  Here's what I did this week:

2 red or yellow peppers cut into 1" strips.
2 zuchinni,quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" cubes (I substituted eggplant for squash this week)
8 oz sliced mushrooms (basically one package)
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1" pieces.
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbs herbs de Provence
8 oz penne pasta
4 oz mozarella or Italian blend shredded cheese (1 cup)
2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded smoked cheese (mozarella, provolone or gouda)
3 cups marinara sauce (a jar is good here - Trader Giotto's is convinient)
1 oz parmesan (1/4 cup)
2 oz mozarella (1/2 cup)

You'll need a 13'x9" casserole dish sprayed with olive oil.  (Pam or similar)

Preheat oven to 450°F
Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Spray with olive oil spray (Pam or similar)
Put all the vegetables in a large bowl and add olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs de Provence and toss to coat.   Spread out on the the baking sheet and put it in oven for 15 (too short) to 30 min (30 is prob too long).  Once the vegetables are roasted, you can save these in the frig and assemble the casserole later.  But if not, while the veg are roasting, you can...

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, the inside should still be a bit hard.  Drain.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce and 
4 oz mozarella or Italian blend shredded cheese (1 cup) and 2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded smoked cheese until everything is well combined.

Pour into the casserole and top with the parmesan and mozarella cheese.  Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

I only took one pic  - here's what the vegetables look like after roasting:

Roasted Eggplant and Sauteed Greens Lasagna

Fall's CSA last year was filled with eggplant, perhaps a little too much eggplant.  This year Nick is trying not to overwhelm us, but we are gauranteed two varieties (1 lb each) each week.  Last week it was a pound of "Casper", white, ghostly eggplants, and a pound of "Orient Charm" a long, thin, pink eggplant.  We also got one bunch of broccoli greens, which I've never had before but the note with the basket said we could saute them like collards.  So, I thought it would be a good time to make this Roasted Eggplant and Sauteed Greens Lasagne from Food52 that I discovered during last year's CSA eggplantapalooza (eggplantapocolypse? eggplantnado? I don't know,  but you get the idea).  The recipe suggests using a modified version of Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce, which I recall making last year (and it is delicious), but this time I didn't have the time so I just used a jar of Trader Giotto's Marinara I had in the pantry.  It was a little less than the quart required, so I added a can of chopped tomatoes with their juice (at the end, when I realized everything was a bit dry...would have been better to mix that in at the beginning.  I also used regular shredded mozzarella rather than fresh. 

So slice the eggplant, toss in some olive oil and spread on a sheet to roast at 450 for 20 min (the recipe fusses around with rotating pans but I ain't got time for that while I'm trying to make a different dinner at the same time)

(I might have sprayed them w/ a little olive oil spray before roasting.
Saute the chopped greens:

And then build the lasagna according to instructions (no photos).  Bake covered with foil for 40 min at 350°F.  Remove foil and back 5-10 minutes to brown.  I discovered last year that this freezes and reheats well: