we are finally back from our little holiday (more to come on that – yum). It took a couple days to get back into the swing of actually being back home and not sipping margaritas on some lonely beach in Mexico – I know, I just have to rub it in a little bit more!
Anyhow, after all the fantastic Mexican food, I am actually craving Italian in a big way. We went out last night and loaded up on some carbs and tonight after a killer spin class and only two lonely eggplants in the fridge, I had to come up with something to cure that craving. I had wanted to go the spicy eggplant route from a previous meal we had; but, Lenny decided to bring a little friend home from Mexico and demanded, NO SPICY!
I decided to de-construct your basic eggplant Parmesan. I slow-cooked some onions and garlic with some olive oil. After they were a nice golden color, I tossed in some cherry tomatoes from our garden, and added diced eggplant and a little more olive oil – slow cooked again until it was a nice sugary brown color. At this point I made my basic risotto recipe but I added some Parmesan cheese at the very end. As I was still in the spicy mood, I topped mine with some spicy but savory red pepper threads! Fantastic!
Verdict: Cured my craving! Lenny, at first said, it was “good”. By the end of the meal and his second helping, it had gone from good to really good!!
Recipe: De-constructed Eggplant Parmesan Risotto
1 Basic Risotto Recipe – found here
Eggplant – halve of a medium sized one, minced
Cherry Tomatoes – handful
Yellow Onion – halve, minced
Garlic – two cloves, minced
Olive Oil – 3 T.
Butter – 1 T.
Red Pepper Threads – for garnish.
Saute onion and garlic with olive oil, until soft. Add cherry tomatoes an cook until they pop. Add eggplant and cook until golden and soft. Remove from pan and set aside.
Make your basic risotto recipe. Before serving stir in butter. Put into a serving bowl and top with eggplant mixture. Garnish with red pepper threads. Serve. Eat.
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