Eggplant Tomato Sauce

When Isaac and I were in Bethlehem, we had lunch in the main square (called Manager Square) right outside the Church of the Nativity. It was Arabic food and it was amazing. My lunch came with a delicious eggplant-tomato sauce to pour over my chicken and couscous. When we got home, I tried to find a similar recipe. I tried out the below recipe, and while it didn't taste near as legit as the Bethlehem experience, it was still pretty good. If any of you like eggplant, then you'll enjoy this dish too. Now, if only we had fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice...

The eggplant-tomato sauce is in the upper right corner in a bowl. Oh my, was it delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

5 pounds ripe plum tomatoes (I used a large can of tomatoes, both crushed and stewed)
3½ pounds firm eggplants
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups onions, finely chopped
¼ cup garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
½ teaspoon dried peperoncino, or to taste (I have no idea what this is, and therefore did not use)
4 sprigs fresh basil with leaves

DIRECTIONS:

Prepare the tomatoes for sauce.  (since I had no idea what "prepare" meant... I stuck with canned tomatoes)

Trim and peel the eggplants. Cut them lengthwise in 3/4-inch wide slices, stack the slices and cut them into 3/4-inch wide strips, then chop into 3/4-inch chunks.

Stir together the oil, the onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt in the saucepan. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, add the garlic and let it caramelize it in a hot spot, then stir in a couple tablespoons of water and cook the onions and garlic together for a minute or two.

Now pour the eggplant pieces into the pan, sprinkle on 1 teaspoon salt, and turn to coat the pieces with the oil and sautéed onion and garlic. Cook over low-medium heat, uncovered, stirring and turning the eggplant frequently. If the pan gets dry and the pieces start to brown, stir in several spoons of water; lower the heat if needed.

Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until the eggplant chunks are very soft, almost mushy, but still retain their shape. Pour in the prepared tomatoes and juices, rinse the tomato bowl with 2 or 3 cups water and pour it into the pan (the eggplant needs the additional liquid). Sprinkle on the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the peperoncino and stir to blend everything together. Submerge the basil branches in the sauce, cover the pan and raise the heat to medium.

When the sauce reaches the boil, lower the heat to keep an active simmer and cook, covered, for 40 minutes or so. The eggplant should now be broken down and melting into the tomatoes.

Uncover the pan and let the sauce bubble gently and gradually reduce. Stir carefully as it thickens, to make sure the eggplant doesn't stick to the pan bottom, lower the heat if necessary. Cook uncovered for a total of 45 minutes to an hour, until the sauce has the consistency you like, and then turn off the heat. Pull out the basil before using, and store in the refrigerator for about a week, or in the freezer, in a properly filled and sealed container, through the winter.

Savory Spiral Stuffed Rolls

I know you all think I'm a pessimist sometimes, and I guess I am. But I can't remember the last time I made something that totally lived up to my expectations. I browse food blogs, watch cooking shows on TV from time to time, pour over cookbooks, and find recipes that look so good that I can't wait to try them. I have a fairly long list of recipes that fall into this category (sometime next week I am going to attempt homemade french onion soup which I have always wanted to make but never tried). Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that a couple weeks ago I found these rolls on this food blog: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/ and have been anxiously waiting to try them. This is partly because the author's description makes them sound so irresistable. Don't get me wrong, they were still good (Brian really liked them, sans broccoli), but just not as good as I was expecting with the way she wrote about them. With my leftover pumpkin from the pumpkin cinnamon buns, I even made the pumpkin bars "Mel" has in her "Best" category. I'm not even going to post that recipe here because they were so disappointing. I am glad I made these though and I recommend them if you have all the ingredients here, a little bit of time, and want something slightly different for dinner. If you want it really healthy, you could probably use fat-free cream cheese, or they might even be good without the cream cheese at all.

Makes 12-16 rolls

1 recipe roll dough (that yields about 12 rolls), I used the recipe Mel recommended (the french bread roll recipe)

12 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

2 cups chopped ham (leftover ham or deli ham works great here)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped broccoli (I only used broccoli on half the rolls b/c Brian hates it)

2 cups shredded cheese (Swiss, Cheddar..options are limitless)

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup finely chopped green onions

Follow the recipe for your roll dough until the dough has risen. Punch down the dough and roll the dough out into a large rectangle about 1/2-inch thick.

In a small bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Spread the rolled out dough with the butter/cream cheese mixture. Top with the ham, broccoli, cheese, Parmesan cheese, and green onions (see the pictures below). Roll the dough up, pinching the seam to seal.

Slice the roll into about 1-inch segments. Place the rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Let the rolls rise until nearly doubled and then bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly.

*Personally, I think the rolls tasted better cool rather than right from the oven. The cream cheese mixture was too gooey and almost made the rolls taste doughy, but after they cooled it didn't have that effect.

Pumpkin Cannelloni with Sage Brown-Butter Sauce

I don't know what it is, but everything pumpkin sounds good to me lately. I think it's due to my drought of Panshire that's making me crave pumpkin dishes. So, in an effort to satisfy my craving, I've been researching fresh pumpkin dishes. I tried this one out last night, and it was pretty good. Good enough I'm eating it again for lunch today.

Amy's notes: I don't know how you can tell if a pumpkin is ripe, but makes sure it's just that, ripe. I feel like the dish would have had more of a pumpkin favor had I had a ripe pumpkin, and not one that had some green skin that I found after peeling it. Have you ever peeled a pumpkin before? I hadn't. I haven't even cooked with an actual pumpkin before either. Also, I think it would be really good if you added some pure pumpkin (canned) to the pumpkin mixture, just to ensure you get a delectable pumpkin flavor in every bite.John's a good sport in letting me be adventurous with my cooking and letting me try new dishes, even ones without meat. Maybe some Italian sausage would be good mixed in?

Pumpkin Cannelloni with Sage Brown-Butter Sauce:

Recipe compliments of Country Living

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound(s) pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup(s) ricotta
• 1/2 cup(s) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) finely chopped fresh sage, plus 4 large whole leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 package(s) (8-ounce) oven-ready lasagna sheets
• 6 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place pumpkin, along with 3/4 cup water, in a large skillet over medium heat. Cover and steam until tender, 20 minutes. Remove to a medium bowl and mash until smooth.
3. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a small skillet and sauté garlic until golden. Transfer garlic to a mortar and pestle, then crush to a paste. Stir cheeses, chopped sage, salt, pepper, and garlic paste into mashed pumpkin. Set aside.
4. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook lasagna sheets until tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and drizzle with olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking together. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.
5. Liberally brush a medium baking dish with oil. Place a lasagna sheet on a clean work surface. Add 4 tablespoons pumpkin mixture to center of lasagna, roll into a cannelloni tube, then transfer to prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining sheets.
6. Pour reserved pasta water over lasagna and cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and pasta is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Cook butter and sage leaves in small skillet over medium-high heat until golden-brown. Drizzle over pumpkin cannelloni and serve immediately. Amy's Notes: make sure you don't burn the butter and sage leaves while trying to brown. I accidentally did that, but it still tasted alright.

Asparagus Risotto

Lorena's notes: I just made this for the second time. The flavors are divine - I just have to savor every bite and let the taste just melt into my tongue. It's a wonderful, full-flavored and filling vegetarian entre. To me it tastes gourmet. Please, for me, eat it slowly and take the time to savor.

p.s. It calls for freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, and it really, really is better than the pre-grated kind sold in a tub. I only know this because they don't sell the pre-grated kind in Sweden so I was sort of forced into this discovery.

p.p.s. This is from the Cooking Light website, which makes me like it even better because they sponsor a women's pro cycling team.

p.p.s. I cook the asparagus slices for 3 minutes covered in a small amount of boiling water before adding. I feel like it may be too hard otherwise.  

	Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Cindy Barr

Yield:  8 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups risotto and 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese)


4 cups (1-inch) slices asparagus (about 1 1/2 pounds), divided
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
1 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
2 cups uncooked Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Place 1 cup asparagus and 1 cup broth in a blender; puree until smooth. Combine puree, remaining 2 cups broth, and 1 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.
2. Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in rice; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1/2 cup broth mixture; cook 2 minutes or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining puree mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 30 minutes total). Stir in remaining 3 cups asparagus; cook 2 minutes.
3. Stir in 3/4 cup cheese, cream, salt, and pepper. Transfer risotto to a bowl. Serve with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

CALORIES 283 ; FAT 7.7g (sat 4.4g,mono 2g,poly 0.3g); CHOLESTEROL 23mg; CALCIUM 144mg; CARBOHYDRATE 44g; SODIUM 634mg; PROTEIN 10.5g; FIBER 4.1g; IRON 2.2mg

Cooking Light, APRIL 2009