Recipe: Liz's Eggplant-Rice Thing

Liz's Eggplant-Rice Thing
rec.food.cooking/LizR (1995)

This recipe feeds three or four as a side dish and two as a main dish (I love eggplant so I usually make more if I'm having four people for dinner). I don't really measure amounts - I just mix stuff until it tastes good so feel free to make adjustments if you think the ricotta-rice proportions need it.

1 large purple eggplant
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup cooked white rice (Uncle Ben's or the equivalent - I tried it with arborio rice once and it was way too gummy)
1/2 cup marinara sauce (Classico tomato basil is the best if you don't want to make your own)
fresh parmesan (reggiano of course) - shaved not grated - you want curls
fresh basil leaves

To peel eggplant you just take a vegetable peeler and peel it in the same manner as you would a carrot or a potato. I peel it raw for this recipe because I slice the eggplant and it's way too fiddly to get the peel off after it's cooked. Slice the eggplant - slices should be no more than 1/2 inch thick. Brush with olive oil on both sides and bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes - until they start getting soft. Meanwhile, mix the ricotta and rice together.

When the eggplant is done, put a large spoonful of the rice mixture on half of the eggplant slices. Cover with the remaining slices and top with two basil leaves per round. Cover with a tablespoon or so of tomato-basil sauce. (If you put the basil on the top it does look prettier, but the basil gets very dry and tends to burn. And if you wait until after you bake it, you don't get as much basil flavor...) Sprinkle with a few curls of parmesan and bake at 350 for another 15-20 minutes.