EGGPLANT LOVE

Once upon a time there were two eggplants, the delicate Carmen and next to her, growing on another plant was Fabio.  As they grew, they became close friends and the thought of being seperated was more than either of them could endure.  So, in an effort to remain together, every day as the sun shone on them, they leaned as far toward each other as they could and gradually their stems became one.  A marraige made in heaven!!

I have never seen an eggplant like this and it humored me! They are small, but somehow it just seemed that they wanted to be together! I thought you might like to see a picture of the young lovers.

These days we are eating a lot of eggplant. Two days ago, harvesting resulted in 9 eggplant! Some of them are small but they are all gorgeous. I love the color and shine of them, and the taste is one of my favorites.  It always reminds me of summer and the farmer's market. Eggplant has an earthy, meaty flavor. Meaty in the sense that it is a flavor that packs a punch! If you've never tried it, I hope you will.  You won't be disappointed. Here is a great way to use eggplant in your cooking.

Roasted Garden Vegetables

Heat oven to 425. 

 On a sheet pan, mix together 1 small eggplant, cut in large dice, along with 1 diced green pepper,

1 sliced red onion, 1 cup chopped fresh basil, 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley,

2 TBS. chopped oregano, 2 cloves garlic minced, 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 TBS of red wine vinegar. 

 Sprinkle mixture with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

 along with 1/2 c. pitted kalamata olives.

Bake for  about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile:

In a blender, roughly puree 2 pounds diced plum tomatoes, seeds removed along with 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes.

Add to the vegetable mixture along with 1 TBS red wine vinegar and continue baking for

another hour, stirring occasionally until vegetables are very tender. 

Serve at room temperature alone or with your favorite pasta

In the background of the picture at the top, you will see one of my favorite cookbooks. It's called The Italian Farmer's Table. It's a cookbook, but so much more! It's about agritourismo in Italy.  The Italian government made a way for farmer's to make an income from their working farms by allowing them to open their farms to tourists and serve food fresh from their farms and opening their homes to overnight guests. 

 There are many of these little farms across Italy.  Agritourism is alive in Italy. It would be a dream to visit there and see these farms in action! The book features numerous farms along with wonderful information about each farm and the people who run them. Recipes are included in the book and the pictures will WOW you!