Is your garden turning out more eggplant than you know what to do with right now? Ever see those purple vegetables in the supermarket and wonder what to do with them? Or do you just like good Italian food? Chef Jeff has the answer to all of these questions with his Eggplant Towers recipe in this month's Emergency Eats!
A plated Eggplant Tower. Photo Credit: Chef Jeff
'Emergency Eats' is all about using fresh, seasonal ingredients that you either have on hand, or are fairly easy to find; and making something really delicious out of them without a ton of effort. Once you assemble Eggplant Towers, you can go help your kid with his homework, take a quick shower, or go unwind with a glass of wine while they bake in the oven (the eggplant, not your kids) :) . It's the kind of dish where the assembly is quick, and although the total time in the oven may push it to over a hour until dinner is served; it leaves you free to tend to other things while you wait.
Eggplant are in season July through September in North America.
There are a few variations of this dish that you can try. The first time made this, I stuck to Chef Jeff's original recipe and was full, and fulfilled. I liked that this was easy to assemble, and baked, not fried. (I'm not one for cleaning up a greasy mess in my kitchen.)
This is a great vegetarian option, and if you'd like to spice it up by adding some ground sausage to the sauce, feel free. Creativity and inspiration in the kitchen lead to some of the world's greatest dishes.
As for Eggplant Towers, my seven year old said, "My concept of this is excellent." :) It brought out the junior food critic in her. If it can wow a first grader, it's safe to say it's something special. It's cheesey, toothy, garlicky, and oh soo good.
Some of the ingredients.
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants*
1 35 oz. can crushed plum tomatoes**
1 cup ricotta cheese (1/4 cup per eggplant serving)
1 cup grated mozzarella
3 garlic cloves (smashed or minced - I prefer minced)
1 small bunch fresh basil, minced (I suggest 7 or 8 large leaves), plus 4 whole basil leaves for garnish
1 small bunch fresh oregano, separated from stems, minced (I suggest 5 - 6 stems)
3 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for greasing the baking dish if not using non-stick cooking spray)
salt
pepper
Sauce simmering with sautéed garlic, fresh basil and oregano. Your kitchen will smell like an Italian trattoria!
Instructions:
1. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a heated pot. Add garlic & cook until slightly tan in color. (It should take less than 1 minute.) Stir the garlic constantly.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes.
3. Add the basil and oregano.
4. Let the sauce simmer until it's barely bubbling. (Cover the sauce to prevent splattering.)
The eggplant procedure :) Photos courtesy of Chef Jeff.
5. Cut the ends off of the eggplant. Then cut each eggplant in half. Each eggplant should make 2 serving portions.
6. Core each eggplant half by using a small knife and carving out the center leaving about 1/8 of an inch border around the skin. Save the inner eggplant pieces.
7. Cut the eggplant that you cut out of the halves into 1/2 inch pieces, or smaller.
8. In a separate heated deep-sided pan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and immediately add the eggplant pieces with salt and pepper to taste. Stir the eggplant quickly until all of the pieces are coated.
Eggplant absorbs oil very quickly so you can't dilly-dally here. If you were too slow, you may need to add a bit more olive oil to the pan to give all pieces a good coating.
9. Sauté the eggplant stirring frequently on medium-high heat for about 12 minutes or until the eggplant starts to soften and change to a less opaque color. The color darkens a little bit.
10. Add the eggplant to the sauce.
 Sautéed eggplant for filling. |  Eggplant added to the sauce. |
11. Prepare a baking dish or an oven sheet with sides by coating it with non-stick cooking spray or rub some olive oil on it.
12. Take the eggplant halves and place them in the baking dish standing up.
Eggplant Towers ready to be stuffed, sitting all pretty on their baking tray.
13. Preheat your oven to 425 ⁰.
14. Using a tablespoon, start building the layers. This is what I mean: Take 1 generous spoonful of the eggplant sauce and place it in each eggplant half. Top with 1 teaspoon of grated mozzarella. Top that layer with 1 tablespoon of ricotta cheese.
15. Repeat layers of eggplant sauce, mozzarella, and ricotta, gently pushing down with the spoon until you reach the top. (2 layers usually does it.)
16. The top layer should end with the ricotta cheese and then you can sprinkle a bit of mozzarella on last for a finishing touch.
Filling the eggplant towers. It's easy and fun. Even my 7 year old could do this! Photo credit: Cheff Jeff
17. Place the eggplant in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.
18. When you take the eggplant out of the oven, let them sit for about 5 minutes before plating so they firm up.
Baked Eggplant Towers - Photo Credit: Cheff Jeff
19. Spoon any leftover eggplant sauce in the center of each plate for presentation. Place an eggplant half in the middle of the sauce. Garnish each eggplant half with a basil leaf in the center.
Special Notes:
Serves 4.
* Depending on how large your eggplants are, you may get 3 servings out of one eggplant by cutting it into thirds, instead of just 2.
** I prefer to use boxed tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, or tomatoes packed in glass jars versus canned. Here's why: The resin linings of tin cans reacts with the acidity in the tomatoes, which causes BPA to penetrate the contents.
Variations: Add cooked, crumbled sausage to the eggplant sauce. You can also sauté chopped onions and/or mushrooms with the garlic and incorporate that into the sauce, too.
Nutritional Information Per Serving:
This analysis is based upon using part skim ricotta.
Calories: 224
Fat: 17 g
Carbs: 17 g
Protein: 5
Sodium: 382 mg
Sugar: 11 g
Potassium: 0 mg
Cholesterol: 5 mg
Vit A: 6% (of daily)
Vit C: 3% (of daily)
Calcium: 6% (of daily)
Iron: 1 mg
Fiber: 0 g
*NOTE: These figures are only estimates. They are provided as is and may be inaccurate depending on individual ingredient choices and measurements. This should be used only as a general assessment. This is not intended to diagnose or treat any ailment or deficiency, but to provide an estimated nutritional profile. The term (“of daily”) is based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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