Roasting

Dearest HotDishes, What can I say but I have missed you. Amongst the chaos of gardening season and summer shenanigans, you have been put aside but not forgotten. But tonight, after weeding and harvesting the tomatoes and slowly savoring a lemon plum cake and a Southern Tier UnEarthly IPA, I know it was time to return.

So here I am in August. One of the reasons I love August the best of all the summer months besides its more temperate temperatures is that my garden is in high productivity mode and eating is so much easier, fresher and cheaper! While these delicious veggies are great straight of the garden they are also wonderful ROASTED!! Last summer, I wrote about roasting peppers but the other night I discovered a new love roasted eggplant.

I had purchased some eggplant at the public market and promised Ron I would make him some eggplant parmesan (one of my most favorite summer dishes) but then I stumbled upon a recipe for roasted eggplant ratatouille in the fabulous book A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (side note: please read this book. It is lovely, entertaining and has some fabulous recipes) and so I decided to roast these eggplants and create a casserolesque concoction with said eggplant and a pile of other assorted vegetables on my counter. And we still have to come to best part! I made this along with Tuesdays dinner to be eaten on Wednesday, covered it with foil, popped it in the fridge and when I came home late from work Wednesday Ron had popped it in the oven and dinner was a mere 15 minutes away!

Weeknight Summer Vegetable Casserole

Slice 2 eggplants and toss in 2 Tbl of olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Flip and cook another 10-15 minutes.

Cover the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan with tomato sauce (I used homemade you could also just use fresh tomatoes, a little garlic and some basil). Layer eggplant, sliced summer squash and any other veggies you find appropriate. Spread some about ¾ cup of ricotta cheese over veggies. Add another layer of sauce (or self-created tomato mixture). Add another layer of eggplant and squash. I ended with some freshly sliced tomatoes, some fresh ground pepper and of course a layer of mozzarella.

Bake at 350 covered for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 15 or until brown and bubbly.

We enjoyed this with a bottle of Dr. Konstantin Frank’s Semi-Dry Riesling and a 1990’s Nicholas Cage film.

PS I am slow roasting some tomatoes right now and if they are worth speaking about I will pass on the info!