dmferrell@happy.colorado.edu (06/20/91)
;In article <1991Jun11.124908.7752@mthvax.cs.miami.edu>, V2164A%TEMPLEVM@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU (Ruth S. Smith) writes: > Please send me a good recipe for "Eggplant - as a main dish" I'm > looking for something that would serve 10 people. This isn't exactly a main dish but is a good substitute for meat with spaghetti or specialty pasta. using medium sized eggplant trim the stem end off then make four evenly spaced slits from approximately 1" from the top to almost the bottom, do not cut through the eggplant. Make a mixture of grated bread crumbs, crushed dried basil, crushed dried marjoram, fincely minced garlic, finely grated Italian cheese such as Parmesan or very dry goat cheese. (The amounts of each item to use depends on how you want the mixture to taste--I use more cheese and garlic than anything else). Mix all the ingredients with a small amount of olive oil to moisten the mixture. Stuff each slit with as much of the mixture as possible then lightly saute the stuffed eggplant in olive oil until lightly golden. Make your sauce as usual but do not add any meat. About 45 minutes to one hour before serving your dinner place the eggplant in the sauce and simmer for one hour or until soft. To serve: Remove the eggplant from the sauce. Drain your pasta and place in a large platter leaving a center section for the eggplant. Spoon part of the sauce over the pasta. Slice the eggplant into 1" slices and arrange in the center of the pasta. Spoon the sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle grated cheese over all. This is a great change from meatballs, sausage, or other meats in the sauce and is fully vegetarian. I usually only make this dish in the summer when I can pick smaller eggplants from the garden. This way they are not seedy and do not have that sharp seedy taste. Diane