Baked rigatoni with eggplant, chard and mushrooms

Hey, look! I cooked something!

It's been over a month since I cooked anything (Christmas Day, to be exact). In that time, I've been eating a lot of other people's cooking and road food. Also some nice meals out, but probably too many.

To avoid spending unnecessary money on both road food and eating out, I wanted to get my kitchen operational as quickly as possible. Step 1: unpack. Step 2: stock the pantry. I started at Costco, and finished with a couple of trips to local grocery chains. I've discovered that some things are weirdly cheap (eggs are $1 a dozen, eggplants are $1 each) and some things are weirdly expensive (booze has a 35% tax! Can you believe it?).

The pantry is about 85% there, but it's enough to get started. First I made chili with ground pork, then I made a big batch of tomato sauce, then I made some fudge, and now I'm making bread.

For dinner last night, I made baked rigatoni with eggplant, chard, and mushrooms. It's a variation on a theme, but a delicious one.

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped (I used one large shallot)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small package of mushrooms, quartered
1 bunch chard, loosely chopped
3-4 cups tomato sauce
Leaves from 1 small bunch basil
1 pound rigatoni
1 pound fresh mozzarella
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat some olive oil in a skillet until hot. Add the eggplant pieces in one comfortable layer (you may need to do more than one batch) and cook until golden brown. Set aside in a large bowl. Cook the mushrooms next in the same skillet. Add to the eggplant. Saute the onion and garlic next, and add that to the eggplant. Cook the chard just long enough so that it's wilted, and add that to the eggplant as well.

Cook the rigatoni until still slightly firm. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Add both to the eggplant, along with the tomato sauce, basil and any seasonings,  and the mozzarella. Mix well, and pour into a large casserole dish. Top with parmesan and pepper, and bake at 450 until the cheese is melted and slightly browned. Serve immediately.

Roasted eggplant and white bean soup with gruyere sausage

Not much left in the ol' cabinets. But I do have some nice sausages, bought on sale. I'm making a roasted eggplant and white bean soup, with some gruyere and roasted garlic chicken sausage added in.

I used this recipe as a starting point, without the fresh herbs or the onion, and all broth instead of broth and water. I'm out of onions, so I'll use half a head of garlic instead (at which point I'll be out of garlic, too). I'm also adding in a red pepper, and of course the package of sausage. I also won't blend it, since my blending equipment is all packed.

Ratatouille

I've made ratatouille salad before, and ratatouille pizza, but here comes the real thing!

Some ex-co-workers of my husband's are leaving town, headed for a new job, and they graciously donated their last garden haul to us. Several nice zucchini, a bag of onions, a few pantry odds and ends. Combined with the eggplant currently in my fridge (bought on sale) and the jar of home-canned tomatoes from my mom,  all these things will make a really nice ratatouille.

I'm using this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, sans red pepper, since I don't have one. I'll probably serve it over rice, maybe quinoa.

Eggplant and barley salad

You can get the recipe here; reprinted below.

• 1 1/2 pound eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 3/4 pound zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 10 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup chopped scallion (from 1 bunch)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 1/4 cups pearl barley (8 oz)
• 1 (14-oz) can reduced-sodium chicken broth (1 3/4 cups)
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 pound cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1/3 cup Kalamata or other brine-cured black olives, pitted and halved
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion, rinsed and drained if desired
• 1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

• Accompaniment: 1 (1/2-lb) piece ricotta salata, cut crosswise into thin slices

Roast eggplant and zucchini:
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss eggplant and zucchini with 5 tablespoons oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl, then spread in 2 oiled large shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pans. Roast vegetables in oven, stirring occasionally and switching position of pans halfway through baking, until vegetables are golden brown and tender, 20 to 25 minutes total. Combine vegetables in 1 pan and cool, reserving other pan for cooling barley.

Cook barley:
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 3- to 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook scallion, cumin, coriander, and cayenne, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add barley and cook, stirring until well coated with oil, 2 minutes more. Add broth and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all of liquid is absorbed and barley is tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes. Transfer to reserved shallow baking pan and spread to quickly cool, uncovered, to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Make dressing and assemble salad:
Whisk together lemon juice, garlic, sugar, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 3 tablespoons oil in a large bowl. Add barley, roasted vegetables, and remaining ingredients to bowl with dressing and toss until combined well. Serve with cheese slices.

Ratatouille salad

More things you can make in advance of a hurricane, that can be eaten at room temperature.

Recipe adapted from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian:

1 eggplant, diced
1 large squash or zucchini, diced
1-2 large tomatoes, diced
1 shallot, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, diced
olive oil
fresh thyme
fresh lemon juice

Saute the eggplant in the olive oil for 10 minutes or so, until soft. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add a little more oil and saute the squash for about 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato and thyme, cook for 1 minute. Empty the pan into the bowl with the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and pepper and lemon juice, and mix together. Can be served cold or at room temperature.

Eggplant, squash and tomato gratin

It's a happy day when you find yourself with too many fresh eggplants, squash, and tomatoes to fit onto two ratatouille pizzas--when you have to figure out something else to do with all of them before they go bad.

So I made this eggplant, squash and tomato gratin.

1 eggplant, sliced thinly
2 summer squash (yellow or zucchini), sliced thinly
2 big tomatoes, sliced thinly
20-25 cloves of garlic; or one big onion, sliced thinly
breadcrumbs
parmesan cheese

First, scatter the garlic cloves or onion in the bottom of a casserole dish, sprinkle with olive oil, and roast at 400 for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and layer the vegetables in rows (a row of eggplant, a row of squash, a row of tomatoes, repeat) on top of the garlic/onions. Over each row sprinkle some breadcrumbs and parmesan. Keep adding rows, alternating, on top of each other, until you run out of vegetables.

Technically you could stop here. But I also added a thick layer of chopped fresh herbs (basil, parsley, thyme, marjoram, sage, sorrel, and even some baby beet greens) and several slices of provolone cheese over the top.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so--or, in my case, until the cheese on top is browned and bubbly.

Sort of like a casserole-style ratatouille, with cheese.

Eggplant caprese

Like caprese salad, but with slices of roasted eggplant thrown in there.

I took an eggplant, sliced it, and roasted the slices in a 400-degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Then I layered those in a casserole dish with a little tomato sauce, tomato slices, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil, with a tablespoon or so of breadcrumbs and parmesan on top. I baked those at 350 for another 10 minute. A perfect light-yet-filling summer meal.

Ratatouille pizza with sun-dried tomato pesto

Isn't that gorgeous?

I layered yesterday's sun-dried tomato pesto over this pizza crust with thin eggplant and zucchini slices. In the middle I put half a ball of fresh mozzarella. I sprinkled the whole thing with parmesan, and added a little chopped fresh sage when it was done.

Super-delicious, super-healthy, I will warn you this is best fresh out of the oven (microwaved eggplant does lose some of its appeal).

Roasted eggplant and pepper quesadillas

1 peeled, chopped eggplant
2 chopped green peppers
mozzarella cheese
tortillas

That's essentially it. I mixed the chopped veggies with a little garlic olive oil, and roasted at 400 until soft. Then I layered those with shredded mozzarella inside two tortillas, and toasted those in a skillet until the cheese was melty. Served with salsa. Yum.

Israeli couscous with roasted eggplant, caramelized onion, and feta

A lot of people don't like eggplant. If not cooked properly, eggplant is bitter and hard, and I suspect people that don't like eggplant have only ever had it cooked the wrong way. Cooked properly, eggplant is creamy, rich and smooth, with a great satisfying depth.

If "creamy, rich and smooth" does not come to mind when you think of eggplant, here's how to get it that way.

You roast it.

(You knew I was going to say that.)

You don't even have to peel it. (In fact, you shouldn't, the rind--especially on purple eggplant--is full of vitamins.) Just slice in rounds. Coat a casserole dish with olive oil, put the slices in the pan, flip to coat with the oil, and roast at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Done.

You don't have to pre-salt, or soak, or any of that other stuff.

For the caramelized onion, slice the onion into half-rings, and saute on medium-low with some olive oil for a long time. At least 30 minutes. Until the onion is dark and slippery and sweet. You don't have to watch the pan or anything, just put it on low and walk away. The longer the onions cook, the sweeter they'll be.

For this dish, I used about three cups of cooked Israeli couscous (that's the large, pearl-like kind), one small roasted and diced eggplant, half of one caramelized onion, and two handfuls of crumbled feta. Mix together, add salt, pepper and seasonings to taste. Serve warm or room temperature. It makes a great brown-bag lunch, and a great way to feature eggplant.