Weekend Herb Blogging #180 Announcement

I am honored to be the host of Weekend Herb Blogging #180. Weekend Herb Blogging is a food blog event that focuses on recipes and informational posts featuring herbs, vegetables and other plant ingredients. Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once is the coordinator of Weekend Herb Blogging and you can find out more about the event, who some upcoming guest hosts will be, as well as WHB roundup archives on her site.

Here are the rules for submitting an entry:

1. Entries to Weekend Herb Blogging must be posts written specifically for Weekend Herb Blogging. This means they cannot be cross-posted in other events.

2. Weekend Herb Blogging entries should have the goal of helping people learn about cooking with herbs or plant ingredients.

Only two types of entries will be accepted:
* Recipe posts where a herb or plant ingredient is one of the primary ingredients in the recipe
* Informative posts that spotlight one herb or plant ingredient, particularly including information about how they are used in cooking.
Naturally, posts can be a combination of both these criteria.

3. Posts must contain the phrase Weekend Herb Blogging with a link to the host for that week (The Crispy Cook) and to Cook (Almost) Anything at Least Once.

4. The posts may be written anytime during the week but you must email me with your submission at oldsaratogabooks AT gmail Dot com with WHB in the subject line by Sunday, April 26, 2009, 5 pm Eastern Standard Time. I will endeavor to have the roundup posted the next day.

5. In your email please include the following information:

* Your Name
* Your Blog Name/URL
* Your Post URL
* Your Location
* Attach a photo (250 pixels wide maximum)


You can catch last week's informative roundup which featured Rose Vinegar, Asparagus Souffled Omelet, Tanglad Juice, Stuffed Zucchini Flowers, Prickly Pears and Cabbage with Fresh Coconut, among other deliciousness in the tasty spread hosted by The Cabinet of Professor Kitty.

For my entry this week, I was inspired by reading Donna Leon's wonderful Venetian mysteries featuring the philosophical and stout-hearted Inspector Guido Brunetti. He is always in search of real truth and justice for the victims of the murders he investigates, despite the corruption swirling around the police and government offices, the grinding criminal justice system and his suspicious and vainglorious boss. Brunetti is enamored with his wife and children, his history books and his meals, which often are preceded by a glass of Prosecco. I searched out a bottle of this sparkling white wine and Dan and I enjoyed it while I prepared a version of Zucchini Trifolati, as mentioned in one of the most recent Brunetti books I inhaled.

I typically saute up coins of zucchini with garlic and basil and tomatoes from the garden all through August and September, but this time I wanted to try slicing my zucchini into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler to make the dish a little differently and it was terrific. The zucchini gets soft and slippery almost like a noodle and cooks up very quickly. In this dish, I used slow-roasted tomatoes from last year's garden that were thawed from our freezer, so they added a nice rich flavor, but you could use canned plum tomatoes as a substitute.

Zucchini Trifolati

2 medium zucchinis, ends trimmed, cut in half widthwise, and then peeled into ribbons with a vegetable peeler (see photo below)



5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup roasted tomatoes (or drained meaty canned plum tomatoes)
2 Tbsp. basil leaves, rough chopped (mine came from the freezer)
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Romano cheese for garnish

Heat olive oil in medium skillet. Add garlic and cook, stirring 2 minutes, or until golden. Add tomatoes and stir around 2-3 minutes. Add zucchini ribbons and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes, or until nutty and crisp-tender. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with cheese.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

This is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging #180. I have already received some entries for this always-flavorful, always-delicious, foodie event, so feel free to join in the fun by the April 26 deadline.

Risotto with Radicchio and Roasted Garlic

The reddish purple leaves of radicchio have always beckoned me from the produce aisle and seed catalogues, but somehow I have never played around with this pleasantly bitter Italian vegetable before. It is a beautiful deep color and makes a nice addition to green salads, both for its visual appeal and bitter, chicory-like flavor, not to mention the benefits of its high level of natural anti-oxidants. Traditional Italian preparation of radicchio includes serving it grilled, in pizza and pasta dishes and in risotto.

I was inspired to do make a radicchio risotto after watching my new favorite foodie guru, Lidia Bastianich on television visiting the vegetable markets of Treviso, where radicchio is a jewel in their culinary crown. Ever since we got our new television converter box for our rural home we've been picking up the Vermont public station's broadcasts of Lidia's Italy, so now I get to see my new kitchen hero slurping pasta, knocking back big glasses of wine and bantering back and forth with her lively mama and intelligent offspring.

When I caught the Treviso show, she went back into the kitchen with a very shy rising chef from New York City and they made a batch of risotto with radicchio and speck, a kind of Italian ham. I wanted to recreate this sumptuous sounding dish at home for my non-Speck eating husband, so I consulted various risotto recipes and came up with this version below which substitutes the richness of the meat with roasted garlic, red wine and extra grated cheese. You could use white wine instead red, but I thought the wine-tinged rice would add an extra shade of purple to the palette of cooked and raw radicchio. The result was regally good, but then again, it's hard not to get transported by a pot of slow-cooked risotto.

Below is my vegetarian version of Lidia's Radicchio Risotto recipe, suitable for those luxurious days when you can spend an afternoon adrift in the kitchen.

Risotto with Radicchio and Roasted Garlic

6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
Olive oil

5 cups homemade vegetable broth

2 Tbsp. snipped chives
1-1/2 cups Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry red wine

2 small (baseball size) heads of radicchio, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese (plus more for the table)
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter
2 tsp. dried thyme
2 Tbsp. minced flat leaf parsley

Drizzle garlic cloves with 2 tsp. olive oil in a glass or ceramic baking dish. Place in 375 F degree oven for 30 minutes, or until they are soft and brown. Let cool for a few minutes and then squeeze out the soft, mellow roasted garlic insides out into a dish. Let cool and reserve. (You only need six cloves of roasted garlic for this particular dish, but if you are garlic-rich, you might as well roast a whole head or two at once, since roasted garlic is wonderful added to other dishes, or squeezed warm onto bread or mixed in dips.)

Meanwhile, bring vegetable broth to a boil in saucepan. Reduce heat so that it just has the gentlest of simmers going on.

In another heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add chives and stir 1-2 minutes, or until soft. Add rice and stir to coat each grain with oil. Rice will squeak a bit when you are stirring it. Slowly add in wine, continuously stirring, and cook until the liquid is absorbed.

Reduce heat to low and start adding ladlefuls of hot broth to the risotto pot, stirring constantly to ensure that the rice absorbs the liquid evenly. Continue additions of hot broth when the pot gets dry, stirring often, if not constantly. Constantly is better, so fortify yourself with additional red wine, if needed. Toss in roasted garlic during one of the broth additions. The whole addition of the broth process will take 20-30 minutes.

Add sliced radicchio to the pot, reserving 1 cup for later. Cook, stirring, several minutes, or until radicchio is wilted.

Take the risotto pot off the stove and mix in several tablespoons of butter, season with salt and pepper to taste, and add thyme. Mix thoroughly. Stir in 1/2 cup grated Parmesan.

Garnish with reserved sliced radicchio, extra sprinklings of Parmesan cheese and minced parsley.

Serves 6.

Thank you Lidia, for inspiring me to play with some radicchio. It was certainly a delicious experiment and I look forward to trying it on the grill this summer.

I am sending a plateful of this delicious purple treat over to the Cabinet of Professor Kitty, an interesting blog of radio playlists, recipes and ruminations. The Professor is this week's host of Weekend Herb Blogging, the weekly blog event that showcases posts about vegetables, herbs, fruit and other members of the Vegetable Kingdom. Weekend Herb Blogging was started four years ago by Kalyn's Kitchen in Utah and is now headquartered in Australia at Haalo's lovely food and informative blog, Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. The recap for WHB will be up after Sunday's deadline and then I am delighted to report that I will be hosting next week's edition, Weekend Herb Blogging #180 (!), from April 20-26.

Cook the Books: Tonno alla Siracusa inspired by Lily Prior's "La Cucina"

The first book selection for the new foodie book club, Cook the Books, is Lily Prior's "La Cucina: A Novel of Rapture". It features an earthy, sensual heroine, Rosa, who grows up in a Sicilian village in the Alcantara valley on the eastern side of Sicily near slopes of a volcano. There are many evocative scenes of cooking and eating throughout the book and I had a delightfully difficult time settling on the dish I would make inspired by Ms. Prior's excellent prose.

Should I make Honey Cookies like Rosa makes to assuage her grief over her grandfather's death or the panelle (fried chickpea fritters) she slips into his mouth on the morning of his funeral in a vain attempt to bring him back to life? The Sfincione (thick Sicilian-style pizza with anchovies) her Mama was making when Rosa entered the world? How about Pasta alla Norma (with fried eggplant, tomatoes, basil and ricotta), Caponata, Nucatoli (squiggly almond cookies served at Lent with dried fruit, or Pasta con Sarde (sardines)?

I considered Roasted potatoes with Rosemary, Mustazzioli (chocolate icing-covered almond and candied fruit cookies, and Toasted Bread with Melted Caciocovallo cheese and sprinkled with vinegar. I had to empty my drool bucket a few times in the planning, but ultimately I selected a "magnificent" Tonno alla Siracusa that Rosa teaches her lover, the mysterious L'Inglese, to make when they are at his friend's villa on a hot summer weekend.

In keeping with seasonal division of the book: (L'Inverno (Winter), La Primavera (Spring), L'Estate (Summer) and L'Autunno (Autumn), I put Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" on my kitchen boombox and cracked open a great Sicilian dry red wine, Colossi Sicilia Rosso, Nero d'Avola, which had a rich, mellow flavor, and assembled my supper ingredients. My famiglia was in for a feast!

I found this recipe to use as my starting point, but I thought 1/2 cup vinegar would pickle my expensive and delicate piece of tuna, so I cut that down and added some powdered cloves as noted in Rosa's cooking, so here's my tweaked version of Tonno alla Siracusa, named for the ancient Greek city of Siracusa (Syracuse) on Sicily's east coast, close to Rosa's fictional village.

****As a sidenote, here in America and especially in upstate New York, we have many towns and cities named after classical cities: Syracuse, Athens, Troy, Rome, Utica, Cairo (pronounced Kay-roh in these parts). These villages were christened during a 19th century wave of national enthusiasm for all things classical in a Greek Revival mania that you can also see in local homes and public architecture.**********

Tonno alla Siracusa

2 lbs. tuna, cut into four or five portions
2 cloves garlic, peeled and slivered
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1/8 tsp. powdered cloves
1 large onion, peeled and sliced thinly
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 large tomatoes, diced
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tsp. dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. pasta
3 Tbsp. Italian parsley, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. snipped chives

Toss garlic slivers in cardamom and cloves. Make small slits in tuna and pop in spice-crusted garlic slivers.

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tuna and brown on both sides.


Stir in diced tomatoes. Cover and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, turning at least once. I used previously frozen tuna, so I had plenty of pan juices, but if using fresh tuna (lucky you!) add a little bit of water if the pan gets too dry

While tuna is cooking, cook up your pasta, drain and toss with a little olive oil, chives and Italian parsley. Season
with salt and pepper and set aside
to keep warm.

Pour vinegar over tuna, sprinkle with oregano and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 10-15 minutes, or until tuna is cooked through. Slice tuna and plate over herbed pasta.

Serves 6-8. A rapturous dish!


The website where I researched my original Tonno alla Siracusa recipe, In Mama's Kitchen, also has an interesting article on the history and development of Sicilian cooking and many more authentic recipes, so do travel over there if your interest has been piqued in this spicy, cross-pollinated style of cuisine. You can find even more Sicilian cooking inspiration at FX Cuisine where you can learn to make Arancinis (a home cooking cult dish of fried rice croquettes), learn how to fry eggplants like a Sicilian mama, cook up tangerine sorbet, and conjure up some Drowned Broccoli, among other culinary wonders.

I hope you enjoyed dipping your wooden spoon into Sicilian cooking as much as I did. To see what other Cook the Book readers think about "La Cucina" and to suggest future book club picks, please hop over to the Cook the Books blog my cohosts Johanna of Food Junkie and Deb of Kahakai Kitchen and I have set up as our new headquarters. There is still time to participate in this first round of our book club. All you need to do is buy or borrow the book, read it and cook up something inspired by it by December 15, 2008. I will be posting the roundup of delicious "Cucina" dishes from all of the participants shortly afterward.

Recipe for a Foodie Book Club, or, How to Cook the Books

Take one crispy bookseller from upstate New York. Trim off any burnt edges. Combine with one food junkie archaeologist from Athens, Greece. Adjust seasonings, adding more ouzo if necessary. Fold in one Hawaiian transplant fresh picked from the kahakai (beach) and combine gently. The result: a tasty new foodie book club, Cook the Books!

As announced previously, the three of us food bloggers, Johanna of Food Junkie, Deb of Kahakai Kitchen and I, met over at the Leftover Queen's Royal Foodie Joust and discovered our mutual love for reading and cooking. We decided on a bimonthly book pick which we would read, discuss, and then cook from. Our first book pick is "La Cucina", by Lily Prior, where the setting is Sicily and Palermo and features lots of mouthwatering traditional Sicilian cooking. Our host trio is pleased to unveil our new Cook the Books blog designed by the multi-talented Johanna as our new home. Check back there for literary discussion, Sicilian cooking ideas, and maybe some input from the author herself!

December 15, 2008 is the deadline to read the book, cook up something inspired by it in your own cucina and blog about it. After that time, I will post a roundup of the delicious entries and we will poll participants for a winning entry. The Cook the Books champion will receive a cool Cook the Books badge to wear proudly on his or her blog. We will also be asking for your suggestions for the next bunch of book selections, whether they are foodie novels or non-fiction gastronomic memoirs, culinary history or travelogues. We would like to plan a reading list for 2009 so participants can order, beg, or borrow Cook the Books book selections well ahead of time.

To whet your appetite for "La Cucina" here's a link to author Lily Prior's website where you can read more about this and other titles, and hear Ms. Prior read a erotic, yet funny passage from the novel (p. 134 in my hardcover copy) with her delightful English accent. I have been in contact with our Cook the Books author to let her know about our new book club and she has graciously offered to answer any questions we may have, so feel free to hop over to our new Cook the Books headquarters to post a comment or question.

Now, start Cooking the Books!

The Search for a Gluten-Free Cannoli

Last month, my daughter needed to make an Italian food to bring to school and wanted to bring cannolis. It was easy enough to find a recipe for the filling, but the cannoli shells seemed too daunting to attempt, gluten-free or not, so we went to our local supermarket and bought a batch of unfilled shells.

We filled them with a blend of ricotta cheese blended with some vanilla, instant coffee powder and powdered sugar and then stuffed the filling into a plastic bag with a corner snipped off for a makeshift pastry bag. Then we dipped the ends of the cannolis in mini-chocolate chips and Badda Bing! They looked rather splendid and I can assure that none were left on the plate by my daughter's classmates.


I still wanted to scout out a gluten-free cannoli shell recipe so I could use the leftover ricotta filling to make Dan some of these beauties, but I couldn't find any information on the Internet or in any of my gluten-free cookbooks, so I think the wheat gluten may be somewhat vital to the architecture of these crispy little tubes. Perhaps some Daring Baker out there would like to tackle this as a gluten-free baking challenge?

I did find some mention that a gluten-free pizzelle, a crispy sort of Italian fried cookie, might be a good substitute cannoli shell if rolled around a metal cannoli tube. Apparently you also need a special pizzelle iron to make these cookies, so I was further thwarted in my quest for a gluten-free cannoli, although here is a link to a pizzelle recipe for those dessert makers more stubborn than I.

All was not lost for Dan's sweet tooth, however, as I made him a different kind of Italian treat with some cannoli goodness: a Sicilian-style Cassata Cake. I figured a good, firm sponge cake would be an easy gluten-free thing to bake up, and it thankfully was according to this recipe.. I then let the sponge cakes cool and topped each layer with some of the coffee-flavored ricotta filling and there was a tasty, cannoli-like dessert for Dan, which he enjoyed especially over several mornings with his cup of coffee.

Now if only some gluten-free baking entrepreneur would manufacture a gluten-free cannoli shell that I could purchase through the mail and stick in the freezer to pull out as needed for my sweetheart......

Gnudi: Naughty, but Nice

Hold onto your pasties, celiacs! Gnudis (naughtily pronounced "nudies") were on our dinner table the other night and they were scandalously delicious. Basically, they are raviolis without their outer coverings -they're nude!--which you poach up delicately and then modestly blanket with a little sauce.

I first heard about these trendy dainties in an issue of Bon Appetit I was perusing in the orthodontist's office. When I got home, I did more Internet research (aka playing on my computer) and found that they are a Florentine specialty that have become "hot" menu items at many cutting-edge big-City restaurants. They are not difficult to make, however, and I would urge you to give them a try. We used the following recipe from Giada De Laurentis provided on the Food Network site, substituting white rice flour for the all-purpose flour. An alternate recipe with a divine-sounding mushroom sauce can be found on the epicurious website.

Now, go be a gnudist for dinner!


Gnudi

1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons flour, plus 1 cup for coating
1 jar store bought marinara sauce, heated
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, spinach, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and yolks. Stir in nutmeg, salt, pepper, and flour. Form mixture in to small, flattened balls.

Dredge the formed gnudi in flour to coat, tapping off the excess. Slide formed gnudi into the boiling water. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan; work in batches if necessary. Remove the gnudi using a slotted spoon after they float to the top and have cooked for about 4 minutes.

Arrange gnudi on a platter and lightly drizzle with marinara sauce.

Love Loaf

My buddy Jill sent me a link to the Food Network's website highlighting recipes from a recent Vegetarian Italian episode and I tried my hand at Veronica's Veggie Meatloaf with Checca Sauce. I uncharacteristically shopped for all of the ingredients involved and followed the recipe to the letter, but found that while it looks loaf-like in the pan, my version didn't have any subsequent architectural integrity. It disintegrated into a floppy rice and beans medley which, however and more importantly, tasted delicious.

I took some ribbing for my culinary attempt, dubbed "Love Loaf" by my charming spouse (as he simultaneously reached for second helpings), but I will definitely make it again. Perhaps I didn't squeeze out my spinach sufficiently, so I will try to make things drier next time. Maybe add an additional egg. And while the original recipe states that prep time for this deliciousness is 30 minutes and cooking time is 1 hour and 30 minutes, there are so many steps involved that I found that I needed an entire morning to work on it on and off, so I would reserve a good block of time on one's day off to make it again.

Ciao!

You can check out the recipe at the Food Network site or eyeball it below:

Checca Sauce:
1 pint cherry tomatoes (about 2 cups, or 12 ounces), halved
3 scallions (white and pale green parts only), coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
8 fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Lentil Loaf:
3/4 cup lentils (about 5 ounces)
3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup uncooked short-grain brown rice, rinsed well
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 celery rib, sliced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
2 tablespoons butter, divided
10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 cups cubed whole milk mozzarella cheese, divided (about 8 ounces total)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus 2 tablespoons
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tomato, sliced

For the Checca Sauce:
Combine the cherry tomatoes, scallions, garlic, basil, and oil in a processor. Pulse the tomatoes until they are coarsely chopped, being careful not to puree. Set aside. Season the sauce with salt and pepper.

For the Lentil Loaf:
Place the lentils in a large saucepan of cold water. Bring the water just to a boil over high heat. Carefully drain the boiling water and rinse the lentils. Meanwhile, in a heavy large saucepan over medium heat, bring the broth to a boil. Add the rice and return the liquid to a boil. Decrease the heat to low, cover the rice, and gently simmer without stirring for 10 minutes. Stir in the lentils, onion, carrot, and celery. Cover and continue cooking without stirring until the rice and lentils are tender and the liquid is absorbed, about 30 minutes longer. Turn off the heat. Sprinkle the corn over the rice and lentils and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover and fluff the rice with a fork. Cover and let stand for 5 more minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread 1 tablespoon of the butter over a 10 by 4 1/2 by 3-inch loaf pan. In a heavy, large skillet, cook the spinach over medium heat until the spinach wilts, about 3 minutes. Drain and squeeze the excess liquid from the spinach. Transfer the spinach to a work surface and coarsely chop.

In a large bowl, gently mix the lentil mixture, spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, eggs, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, basil, salt, pepper, and half of the checca sauce. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Arrange the sliced tomatoes in a row over the lentil mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese. Dot the top with the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.

Bake uncovered until the loaf is heated through and the topping is melted and starting to brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes. Slice the loaf into 2-inch slices, arrange on plates, and serve with the remaining checca sauce.

Eggplant Parmigiana: Hold the Gluten

Eggplant Parmigiana is a family favorite, but we hadn't tried to recreate the pre-celiac version we so enjoyed because of all the bread crumbs involved. We've made ratatouille, eggplant rollantine, baba ghanoush, and other eggplant parmagiana recipes in a gluten-free mode, but we greatly missed the traditional layering of fried eggplant, marinara sauce and gooey mozzarella. After a little experimentation, I found a great way to prepare our favorite eggplant dish without the crumbs but with the same deliciousness. It helps that I used tender baby eggplants from our home garden rather than the Double D-cup wizened eggplants that one usually sees languishing in the produce aisle.

Here is a photo of this eggplant success, which I battled to take before it was wolfed down by my platoon of hungry monsters. The lovely aster and cosmos bouquet in the background harbors a Japanese beetle which I unknowingly brought in from the yard. See if you can spot him/her.

Eggplant Parmigiana

2 medium size eggplants, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick (sometimes I leave the skin on, the way I prefer it, but the other Jags don't like to eat it)
3 eggs, beaten well
4 cups marinara sauce
1 (l lb.) package of mozzarella, grated
Olive oil for frying
2/3 cup white rice flour
2/3 cup grated Parmesan or Romano
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Several sprigs fresh basil, sliced thinly

Place 1 cup of marinara in the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish and spread to cover bottom.

Mix rice flour, Parmesan, oregano and garlic powder together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Dip eggplant slices in beaten egg and then in rice flour/Parmesan mixture to coat.

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in large frying pan. Fry eggplant in batches until golden brown. I found that medium high heat worked the best in keeping the eggplant slices from sticking to the pan. The rice flour coating does not absorb as much oil as the traditional bread crumbs, so this was a heart-healthy bonus. I didn't even feel that I needed to blot the eggplant on paper towels as was absolutely necessary with the bread crumb method of yore.

Place a layer of eggplant over sauce in baking pan. Throw on 1/3 of the grated mozzarella and maybe a little extra Parmesan if so inclined. I also had some roasted tomatoes on hand that I wanted to use up, so I stuck these in too. Top with some of the basil, more marinara and then repeat layers twice more as your eggplant is fried up.

Cover pan with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1/2 hour or until cheese is bubbly.

I've heard that Eggplant Parm improves with age, but leftovers don't last long in these parts.

Mangia bene.

Italian Soul Food

My mom sent me a delicious-sounding recipe for polenta with Gorgonzola she had spied in one of the culinary mysteries by Katharine Hall Page. This is a fun culinary mystery series starring a minister’s wife/amateur sleuth sprinkled with lots of great recipes. Unfortunately, Gorgonzola is not a gluten-free item. All those stinky, glorious cheeses like Blue, Gorgonzola and Stilton are on the verboten list as they are made with bread mold.

Believing as I do that one should always listen to one’s mother, I scoured some other polenta recipes and came up the following version:

Polenta with Gruyere and Roasted Vegetable Marinara

1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
1 small minced onion
3 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
½ lb. Gruyère cheese, grated
2 small zucchini, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. rosemary
Kosher salt
Olive oil
½ lb. sliced mushrooms
2 cups tomato sauce

Toss zucchini, garlic and mushrooms with enough olive oil to coat in glass baking dish. Sprinkled with salt and rosemary. Roast in 400 degree oven until soft and caramelized, about 45 minutes. Mix with tomato sauce.

While vegetables are roasting, bring 3-1/2 cups of water to a simmer in a saucepan. Gradually stir in cornmeal and onion with a wooden spoon. Simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in butter, eggs and 1 cup of Gruyere. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the mixture evenly in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake until the topping is melted and lightly browned, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with roasted vegetable sauce.

This is a very rich dish, so serve on the side with something plain, like broiled fish or a garden salad.

Serves 4-6.