Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Eggplant Gratin

"I saw this recipe made on The Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten, on the food network. It looked and sounded so good that I had to try it myself. I doubled this recipe and baked it in a 13x9 inch dish. Please read my note at the end."

INGREDIENTS:

olive oil, for frying

3/4 pound eggplant, unpeeled, sliced 1/2-inch thick

1/4 cup ricotta cheese

1 extra-large egg

1/4 cup half-and-half

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup good bottled marinara sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat about 1/8-inch of olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook, turning once, until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters! Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil, heat, and add more eggplant until all the slices are cooked.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, half-and-half, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
In each of 2 individual gratin dishes, place a layer of eggplant slices, then sprinkle with Parmesan, salt and pepper and spoon 1/2 of the marinara sauce. Next, add a second layer of eggplant, more salt and pepper, half the ricotta mixture, and finally 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan on top.
Place the gratins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard sets and the top is browned. Serve warm.
NOTE:
I thought this was too greasy because the eggplant soaks up all of the oil you use, and it's quite a bit. My suggestion is that maybe you could just spread butter on each side of the slices and fry them in a pan until browned.

1 comment:

Luscious Temptations said...

This looks seriously delicious! Saw it on Flickr and just had to check the recipe out. Maybe you could try brushing the eggplant slices with oil and grilling it? Must try this some time. Very yummy! :)