It was 54 degrees when I woke at 5:30 this morning. While the days will return to the 80s, the morning air has a hint of fall. What better way to counteract the small bit of a chill than with a hearty dip made with fresh produce?
(Also, I just noticed that this recipe is so old, it has the Wasabi Media Group logo!)
The original post from August 2010
About this time of year, many gardens are overflowing with produce. That isn’t a problem we figured we would have this year, as we planted a modest garden of some container plants and a small plot of pepper plants. However, a couple weeks ago our one patio eggplant ivory plant had about a dozen eggplants ready for picking.
With this much eggplant ready at one time, it became a question of how to serve these yummy vegetables. As eggplant isn’t a vegetable that our four kids are excited to eat and both my husband and I adore it, I decided to save most of them for Tapas Mondays. Now the question became, what sort of small dish or appetizer could I create with this fresh produce?
I have made many different appetizer dishes using eggplant, including Eggplant Rolls, Eggplant Salsa, and Eggplant Stacks. For my newest dish, I wanted something that was a combination of all three. Season it with Italian seasonings, marinara, gooey cheese, and serve as a dip with some sort of bread or chips- those were the goals. The conclusion that I reached was to make a dip that tasted a little like eggplant parmesan. I took a few liberties, such as sautéeing the eggplant instead of breading and frying it and adding a layer of ricotta to the dish. The result was exactly what I had imagined: a hearty dip filled with great flavors and melted cheese.
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
- 1/2 cup parmesan, grated
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 small eggplants, cubed
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- marinara
- fresh mozzarella, sliced
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a small bowl, combine ricotta, egg, basil, oregano, parsley, and parmesan cheese.
- Mix well, and set aside.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Add olive oil and eggplant, and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add garlic, and sauté for 2 additional minutes.
- Coat bottom of a small baking dish with marinara.
- Top with ricotta cheese mixture, then eggplant and garlic.
- Place mozzarella slices on top
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.
- Serve with toasted pita chips or grilled baguette slices.
- If you don’t have fresh herbs, you can replace with dried. Note 1 tablespoon fresh = 1 teaspoon dried
sounds like a close second to our favorite espinaca Michele!