A liliko'i (passionfruit) 3 green Japanese eggplants, 5 tomatoes and a handful of both Red Hawaiian Currant tomatoes and Gold Rush Currant tomatoes was this morning's garden harvest...
I juiced the liliko'i and added it to our dinner iced tea, since we only had the one. The vines are loaded with green ones, though, so it won't be long before we have many more.
Not sure how I will use the currant tomatoes yet, but they will be used tomorrow somehow. Two of the tomatoes were part of our dinner salad.
For dinner this evening I decided to use the eggplant and make lasagna.
Eggplant Lasagna
Eggplants
Sea salt
Flour
Fresh ground pepper
Organic No-Salt Seasoning Mix (*)
Olive oil
Ground beef
Olive oil - if needed for sautéing beef
Mozzarella slices
Ricotta
Egg(s)
Fresh leaves from stick oregano
Freshly grated parmigiano (optional)
Cut ends and peel the eggplant. My Y-shaped peeler did a very good job on that. Cut each eggplant in half and then each half in 4 longish flat slices; I ended up with 24 pieces. Place in a colander, sprinkle sea salt, place a plate over them and then something heavy to weigh it down; let drain for no less than 10-15 minutes. This helps remove some of the bitterness you can sometimes taste in eggplants. They will drain, so be sure to sit the colander in the sink or inside a pan.
Meantime, if the beef is very lean, sauté in about a tablespoon of olive oil; if not too lean, don't use any oil. Add the roasted tomato sauce (I keep ziplock bags in 1 cup amounts in the freezer) and continue cooking for just a couple of minutes, just long enough to mix well with the beef. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 F
Beat the egg(s) and mix with the ricotta. Strip the tiny oregano leaves from the stems and mix with the ricotta-egg mixture. Season if needed.
Spoon flour, fresh ground pepper and seasonings into a shallow dish or pie pan. Dredge the eggplant pieces in the mixture and coat well.
Heat small quantity of olive oil in a skillet or sauté pan and place a few pieces of the eggplant to cook until golden. Cook in batches, adding tiny amounts of olive oil, if needed. Start layering the cooked eggplant inside the baking dish as they are ready. When the bottom layer is covered, lay the mozzarella slices over them, cover with a layer of the beef-tomato sauce and then a layer of the ricotta-egg-oregano mixture. Sprinkle with freshly grated parmigiano, if using.
Place in oven and cook for about half an hour or until bubbly and top is golden. Remove from oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
I served it with a salad made with Malabar spinach, sliced French Breakfast radishes and sliced tomatoes, all from the garden.
The lasagna was delicious and Anthony had two servings. The rest will be frozen for a future meal.
(*) The seasoning was a find at Costco - their Kirkland house brand - a mix of 21 herbs, dried veggies and spices which we like very much.
For dessert, we had luscious and succulent fresh figs I got this morning through a friend who was very nice to drop them off on her way to town. The plumeria blossoms were part of the delivery...
