Eggplant lasagna

Actually this is kind of a cross between lasagna and eggplant Parmesan.  I had two small eggplants that I wanted to use as a side dish to go with my rosemary lemon garlic barbecued chicken and so I came up with this.

Feeds 6 as a side dish, but probably only 3 if this was your main dish.

2 small or 1 large eggplant sliced in 1/4 inch thick slices
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup of fresh ricotta cheese
1 jar of canned tomato puree
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/2 cup of grated  Parmesan

Brush the eggplant with olive oil and lay the slices on a preheated barbecue or you could grill them in the oven on a roasting tin. Cook on both sides until they are cooked through and are a little charred

light eggplant parmasan

I found some wonderful baby eggplants (aubergines) this weekend, and as I was doing an Italian themed dinner I thought I would make a quick light version of eggplant parmasan.

This made enough really to serve 4, there were many among the 11 eating this evening who did not like eggplant! They do not know what they are missing. 

2 small eggplants

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 small jar of home canned tomato puree (about 1 1/2 cups) bought crushed tomatoes

3/4 cup of finely grated fresh parmazan

Slice the eggplants about a 1/4 inch thick and brush with olive oil.  

Place on a hot grill until cook until browned on both sides.

Deconstructed ratatouille

To go along with the leg of lamb we decided to make ratatouille, but I wanted to use the barbecue to roast the vegetables rather than cooking them on the stove, so stopping me from slaving over a hot stove on a very hot day. I bought the mini peppers which are so prevalent here at the moment, they are so sweet and full of flavour, and I wanted to serve them whole. So we came up with the idea of just combining the ingredients that usually make up ratatouille and calling it deconstructed, which is very trendy these days.  Never let it be said that I am not on the cutting edge of food trends.

To feed 13

2 bags of mini peppers
1 large eggplant sliced
4 zucchini sliced
20 small tomatoes halved

First I roasted the mini peppers whole, until they were slightly charred but not too much.

Eggplant (aubergine) and potato curry

This dish is my go to dish if no one else is home for dinner, I love eggplant, potatoes and Indian food so how can I go wrong.  It is quick and easy to make for one, often I will have it on its own with some chutney and yogurt, but this night I had some broccoli rabe that need using up so I cooked that too.

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of garlic ginger and chili see this link to Rogon josh for details on this
1 small onion chopped
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 teaspoon of turmeric
On small eggplant preferably the Asian type chopped up
1 medium potato
1 cup of chicken stock (or vegetable if you want to keep it vegetarian)