Boo to Fall

As September starts and summer comes to a close, I find myself in a funk. I love summer and I hate winter. I don't mind fall, but I know that winter is just around the corner and there will be no more sunshine, swimming, barbecues or fresh local vegetables. So at this time, I try to make as much of my favorite summer comfort food as I can. This is my all time favorite. I've made it for years, but it's never shown up on the blog. I'm not sure why.

Pasta A La Norma - adapted initially from the Gourmet Cookbook, but i haven't looked at the actual recipe in ages

1 small eggplant (or 2 Japanese ones)
1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes (or several fresh ones, peeled. Oh summer)
lots of olive oil
fresh basil
salt
pepper
pasta of your choice
ricotta cheese

1. Heat some olive oil over high heat. Slice up your eggplant and shallow fry it on each side in batches. You want the olive oil to get soaked up into the eggplant and for the eggplant slices to turn golden brown. You'll have to keep adding more oil as you cook because eggplant is like an olive oil sponge.


2. Salt and pepper the eggplant slices and set aside. Don't skimp on the salt.


3. Add the tomatoes to the pan with the olive oil, turn down the heat to medium and add some salt (you could add a little sugar too, to help the tomatoes break down). They have to cook for a while - about 20 minutes is good, so that they really break down into a rich sauce. You can cook the pasta at this time as well. Stir occasionally and don't let the tomatoes stick or burn.


4. Chop up the eggplant into chunks and add to the sauce.


5. Add the basil on top - torn, chopped, whatever.


6. Add the pasta to the sauce and mix to combine. Serve with a dollop of creamy ricotta cheese.


This is one of my all time favorite meals. It's a great vegetarian entree. The eggplant is meaty and delicious and the fresh tomato sauce is an awesome summer treat. The ricotta is a cool change from salty Parmesan (although that is good too). I would eat this every day.

Some people fast today

But not me. As my friend Gina said last night, "I'm against religion trying to dictate what and when I can eat." Plus, who can abstain from eating while looking through pictures of yummy food from Paris? Oh, Paris. I want to go back to that time (three weeks ago) when I was in Paris and didn't have a cold.

So, Zack and I spent a lot of time in the "Jewish Quarter" in Paris. It doesn't seen especially Jewish at this point in time, but it's a cool place to be. Zack really liked the Centre Pompidou - a modern art museum.


But of course, I really just wanted some falafel. Every book I read, every friend I talked to (ok, really just Meredith, but I trust her) said that there was this one awesome falafel place in Paris and gosh darn it, I was going to go there. One day when we were close by, it starting pouring rain, so we made a break for it and ran for the door.


This place was a little different than the other places we went to. First of all, there were plastic plates and paper napkins.


But that just gave the food a chance to outshine the decor. We started with some eggplant in tomato sauce.


It was warm and spicy. I love eggplant. Zack refused to eat falafel (because he's crazy), so he had schwarma.


He liked it. It was kind of like meat stew in a pita. I had the falafel.


It was worth the trip! Crispy on the outside, warm and chewy on the inside - and about as big as my head. I could not finish it - despite my best efforts.

Seriously, this is a not to be missed experience. If you go to Paris - go to L'as Du Falafel.

Sisters! Eggplant!

My sister is visiting me! If you've never met her, she looks like this:


We've been having a wild and crazy time here in New York. One of the first things we did? We made Eggplant Parmesan (yes, I know. We really represent the youth of America). I took my gigantic eggplant that I got from my CSA and chopped it up thin-ish.


Meanwhile, Alli grated two kinds of cheese - Romano and Parmesan.


I mixed the grated Romano with some bread crumbs (I used whole wheat panko - a Japanese brand - they're finer than regular bread crumbs or something) and some dried basil.


I noticed that the recipe (this recipe - I used it as a loose guideline) said to salt the eggplant slices and put them in a strainer and leave them for half an hour. I got hungry, so I only waited ten minutes.



I rinsed them off and tried to get the bread crumbs to stick to the eggplant slices. They didn't. What to do?

I heated up some olive oil in a pan and racked my brain. I decided to make an egg wash. That's when you mix up an egg and some water and use it to try to make things stick better. Things like panko/Romano cheese mixtures.


I dipped the eggplant in the egg wash, then dipped it in the panko/Romano mixture. It worked alright. I started to fry.


I let them get golden brown on each side and then flipped them over. It took about two minutes per side.

Then came the fun part. I lay the slices down in a casserole dish. On top of each slice, I put a little bit of homemade marinara. I used this recipe, minus the turkey. Then I put a slice of fresh mozzarella and sprinkled some Parmesan on top. Woo hoo! We're cooking now.

I laid a second slice of eggplant on top of each slice and repeated the sauce, cheese, cheese moves. Here's how it looks:


Then I baked it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.


Oh it looks so good. I made some spaghetti on the side (quinoa, don't cha know. It's healthier) and mixed it in the leftover sauce.


It was an awesome dinner. Alli loved it and she claimed to not like eggplant. Here she is enjoying it. What an excellent start to our trip.