How to Make Eggplant Rollatini

I grew up in Massachusetts and there a few random things I miss about New England. Red Sox baseball, pizza, and eggplant parmesan. I still get to watch the Sox occasionally, so that’s fine. The two food items though are a bit underwhelming, in my opinion, to eat out here in the West. While there are a couple of amazing pizzerias in the high country, most fall flat. Yes there are styles of pizza that rival a classic East coast by the slice such as: Frank Pepe’s Original New Haven Style Pizza,  Chicago deep dish and thin crust, Detroit-style,   I won’t get into that here today. Eggplant Parm is something I basically lived on in high school, along with the aforementioned pie. Usually in the form of a nice and warm sub although depending on where you come from it could be a “grinder” a “hero” or a “hoagie.” As much as I love the dish, I seldom make it at home for two reasons; it’s super labor intensive and super messy to make. By the time you’ve spent half the afternoon cutting, breading and frying the eggplant, the kitchen is a destroyed and half your kitchenware is dirty. That’s before it even bakes!

So my at-home go-to is a distant cousin of eggplant parmesan and perhaps also had Manicotti or stuffed shells in it’s family. Eggplant Rollatini has very similar flavor profiles and takes half the time to make. Also clean up is way easier than trying to scrub all the spilled breading ingredients off the kitchen counter for an eternity.

So lets get down to it. Now I highly recommend using a mandoline for this project, it cuts down on the amount of time slicing the eggplant. There are two kinds, a French variation and what is more commonly used in the food service industry, the Japanese style. I picture the former because that’s what most people have and is more readily available in kitchen stores. If you don’t have one you can still make this dish but I implore you to use a sharp (!!) knife and try to make all your cuts as uniform as possible. This will help them evenly cook in the baking process.

Ingredients-

1 Large Globe Eggplant

1 C Frozen Spinach, thawed to room temp

1/4 C Chopped Parsley

1/4 C Fresh Basil

8 oz Ricotta Cheese

1/2 C Shredded Italian Blend Cheese (or Mozzarella or Grated Parmesan)

Jar of Pasta Sauce

1 Lemon

1 Egg

Salt and Pepper

These portion sizes listed are to make a dish that serves 2ish people since that’s generally what I’m cooking for at home. I made my own red sauce from a batch of local tomatoes that I canned last summer but a nice quality store bought one would work just as well and saves some time. Feel free to add some ground meat to the sauce to turn this from a veggie dish into a meat lovers delight.

The first step is slicing the eggplant. You want to have the eggplant thin enough so that it will roll with out breaking but thick enough so that it doesn’t fall apart in the baking process. If you have a cooling rack, place it over a sheet tray, if not use a large plate. Heavily salt the eggplant and let sit for 10 minutes, rinse and pat dry.

Meanwhile fire up your grill to medium heat and if you’re lacking a grill turn your broiler on to low setting. Season the eggplant with olive oil, just a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Whether you’re grilling or broiling, you are not shooting for a fully cooked slice. More of a par cook, just enough to make the eggplant pliable to roll up. Once done remove from grill/oven and set aside.

Next up is the assembly of the filling, which is wicked easy. Combine ricotta, spinach and parsley in a small bowl and fold together. Season with salt and a few squeezes of lemon. You don’t want the lemon to be overpowering but brighten up the mixture. Take the egg, beat it and fold into filling.

The home stretch is assembling the baked dish. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a baking dish, I used extra virgin olive oil but butter or cooking spray would work too. Lay out the eggplant slices, spread some of the filling near the top (the side furthest away from you) and roll each slice towards you. Place in greased pan, right next to the previous roll. If you end up with extra rolls try and cram them in, this recipe is very forgiving and it won’t affect the end product. Pour your sauce over the rolls. The eggplant should be covered but not drowning as it will still release some liquid while baking. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, sprinkle with cheese and bake for another 20/30 minutes or until eggplant can be easily pieced with a knife. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Garnish with basil, either roughly chopped, torn by hand or if you’re trying to impress someone, finely julienned. Enjoy!!

Grapefruit & Vanilla Marmalade

It may be the first day of spring, but here in Denver it’s a cold snowy day. Perfect for spending a couple hours making one of my favorite marmalades! While it may not seem like it, bitter citrus and vanilla are a winning combo. It really doesn’t take that much effort to make, but it does require a constant eye for when to stir the marmalade. Especially as it is almost finished cooking.

Here’s what you’ll need to make this marmalade:

5 Large Ruby Red Grapefruits

(you can use other varietals but I found these to be the best)

3 Cups Raw Sugar

3 T Vanilla Extract or 2 Vanilla Beans

(I use Savory Spice’s Madagascar Vanilla Extract. It’s cheaper than raw beans and has great flavor)

Start by washing and drying the grapefruit. I like to have two kinds of zest- a finer zest that breaks down with the fruit while still maintaining some structure, and a thicker zest that holds up through the cooking process and has some texture left in the end product. You can’t have marmalade without zest!

Zest 3 grapefruits and reserve it. Using a peeler, peel the other two taking care not to remove any of the white pith. If you have a sharp peeler, like this Kuhn Rikon, you don’t need to press too hard to remove the rind. If some pith comes off then turn the rind over and using a pairing knife trim off the pith. Once complete, julienne the rind and combine with the other zest. Remove the rind and pith from the grapefruit and slice into wheels, removing any seeds.

Combine the grapefruit, zest & sugar in a non reactive pot. Depending on wether or not you bought extract or beans the next measurement will vary. I used 3 T of the Savory Madagascar Pure Vanilla Extract. If you have something that is of a lesser quality, you may need more. If you have vanilla beans, scrape 2 whole beans into the pot. Regardless of which you use, you can always add in more before the marmalade is set. Stir in a couple of tablespoons of water to the mixture, place it on the stove, cover, and heat on medium.

At first you need to stir this somewhat frequently. Once the mixture starts to bubble, remove the lid and turn down the heat to a simmer. As the grapefruit cooks and breaks down, mash the wheels so they break up into smaller pieces. As the fruit cooks down the heat is going to have to be adjusted down several times. The mixture should never be above a low simmer. It will take about 2 hours for the marmalade to set and needs to be stirred occasionally. Any white foam that rises to the top should be skimmed off and discarded.

There are several ways to check when the marmalade is ready. If you have a candy thermometer, 222F is perfect but not higher. If you place a small plate in the freezer and add a dollop on to the plate, wait a couple of minutes and drag a spoon through it. The sample should crinkle. The last method is if you dip a spoon into the mixture and then turn the spoon horizontally, the liquid dripping off should be in one steady stream.

I jar my marmalade and if you do follow proper canning techniques which can be found HERE. If you choose to skip the processing and put it in the fridge, there is enough sugar in the marmalade to last a couple of weeks, but hopefully you enjoy it before then!

Fall Succotash, a Unique Thanksgiving Side Dish

There are so many delicious side dishes at Thanksgiving. They really make the meal, in my opinion. As I write this I’m craving cranberry sauce, stuffing, and my caramelized onion gravy smothered all over everything. But, it’s fun to try new dishes and steer away from “traditional” flavors. One new side we’ll be serving this year is a fall succotash.

Succotash is traditionally served with fresh corn and lima beans. Our twist on this classic dish features hominy and edamame.

Hominy, according to Wikipedia,  is produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization (nextamalli is the Nahuatl word for “hominy”). It’s essentially big pillowy chewy “corn” with more bite than traditional kernels. You can find it in one of the canned food aisles in most grocery stores.

This dish is very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 1 Butternut Squash, peeled and medium diced
• 1 Yellow Onion, small dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can of Hominy, rinsed and drained
• 1 bag frozen shelled Edamame
• a sprig of Thyme
• 1.5 Cup White Wine
• Lemon
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan and add the squash, stirring frequently so it doesn’t brown (or burn!).

Add in the onions, garlic, edamame, and thyme and reduce heat to low. Stir occasionally and cook until the squash is tender. Add wine to deglaze the pan and to prevent that squash from burning or browning. We want a vibrant orange in this dish.

Add in the hominy, season with salt, pepper, a little lemon juice, and remove from heat.

Top the dish with a little paprika for pizzazz!

Colorado Olathe Corn Broth

I was listening to a radio show about food while driving and the guest was talking about using the leftover corn husks from her recipe to make broth. I’m a big fan of making homemade veggie stocks but hadn’t ever considered a corn stock. Her recipe was simple: simmer corn husks with onions, two things I just picked up from the market, so I made a point of trying it out on a small batch.

I only had three ears of Olathe corn on hand, so I cut off the kernels for dinner that night and tossed the cobs in some water with local onions and some peppercorns.

After an hour or so I turned it off, let it cool, strained it, and then froze it for future use.

I’m planning repeating this with at least a dozen cobs before corn is out of season so I have something more than just veggie stock to play with this winter.