A very veggie kind of week #2

Well I did say I was craving veg this week. Actually today I had an absolutely beautiful salad for lunch at "As You Like It" which is what I always used to call the Street Theatre cafe, since that's where it is. With colleagues I really like, we dined on a range of tasty treats, washed down with champagne we didn't mean to order. It worked, but I felt a bit fuzzy going back to the office. Thank God for Earl Grey.

Anyway, the current issue of Delicious has an Italian focus. I love Italian food. I grew up with it and I'll enjoy discovering new Italian dishes until the day I die. I saw a recipe for eggplant parmigiana with buffalo mozzarella and thought I'd give it a go. Unfortunately I didn't have quite all of the ingredients and it served 8-10 people which is way too much parmigiana for this household without company present. And even then... So I compromised - slightly changed the herbs, used spelt and cut back the quantities. And this is what I came up with - eggplant parmigiana, suburban style. 

I have to say, even my little carnivore who only eats veg at my insistence, loved this and wasn't impressed when I got to the last piece before he did.

Ingredients:

Two large eggplant, washed and cut into 1cm rounds

1 cup spelt flour (or whatever plain flour really)

2 tbsp dried oregano 

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves

2 tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves

2 free range eggs

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 x 400g peeled tomatoes, pureed

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

280g mozzarella, sliced

Put the eggplant in a colander in layers, sprinkle liberally with salt at each layer and let stand for 15 minutes. Rinse well, pat dry with paper towel.

Preheat oven to 190ºC and olive oil a deepish baking dish. 

Place the flour in a shallow dish, together with the chopped herbs, salt and pepper. Stir well. In a second shallow dish, lightly beat the eggs with a tablespoon of water. Dip each slice of eggplant in the flour, shake a bit, then in egg. Place them on lined baking trays in a single layer and sprinkle with garlic. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and cooked. 

In the oiled baking dish, layer a third of the eggplant. Cover with a third of the tomato, Parmesan and mozzarella. Repeat until it's all used. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is brown and bubbling. You can start by covering the top with foil and removing it about half an hour in so that it browns last. Serve hot or cold.

Now if you want the original recipe, you'll find it in this month's Delicious on page 88.