The Sunday Dinners project is a collaboration between Andrew Schloss and Cookthink.

Cooked eggplant isn’t pretty. Cursed with the color of putty, its pulp is bland, at best. But cube it or slice it and goose it up with a bit of garlic or wrap it in a robe of tomato sauce, and this perennial wallflower blossoms.

Ironically, the culinary allure of eggplant comes from its dullness. Its innocuous color and mild flavor make it a perfect vehicle for any number of seasonings. Its meaty texture gives vegetarian dishes substance and its natural creamy consistency can thicken a sauce or a stew, without a speck of added cholesterol, less than half a gram of fat and barely an added calorie per serving.

Though eggplant has been cultivated since antiquity, it is still underused in American kitchens, with the notable exception of eggplant parmesan, which has become the blue-plate standard for a meatless meal.

My version is a lasagna-influenced take on the original made with a quick tomato sauce, a cheese-laden white sauce and browned eggplant slices. Serve it with a mesclun salad with a garlicky dressing and toasted pine nuts and poblano pepper-spiked polenta for a satisfying meat-free Sunday dinner.

Posted by andy in recipes, sunday dinners | | Subscribe to this feed