To be honest I’m usually not a big fan of eggplant. Sometimes when I get it in restaurants thinking I want to try it again, it’s overly chewy and unpleasant. I haven’t worked with it at home because I don’t really know what to do with the darn thing! When we received one all wrapped up sitting nice and pretty in our Bountiful Basket pick-up I wondered … now what the heck am I going to make with this thing? I am very open to trying all kinds of different foods and actually found a recipe that suites eggplant very well. In fact, I think it has renewed my confidence in this purple beauty.
We have been making fresh pasta more lately because it is really cheap and goes a long way. Eggplant is a perfect addition to ravioli filling and goes well with an easy, fresh tomato sauce.
Eggplant Ravioli with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 eggplant, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup fontina cheese, shredded
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
For the Sauce:
- 16-oz container of heirloom cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic gloves, minced
- sprinkling of salt, pepper and dried oregano
You mix until it just starts to come together and flake.
Then it’s time to roll…
Fold over and reduce the size of the pasta maker setting to thin the pasta out.
There we go!
The filling is super easy! Dice up one eggplant.
Saute the onion, eggplant and garlic in the olive oil until nice and tender (about 12 minutes) and then mix with the cheeses and spices.
Lay out the pasta dough and get ready to place the filling.
Brush a little bit of water around the edges where the pasta will seal to help it adhere.
Fold the pasta over to form the raviolis.
Then roll them with this handy dandy tool to seal the deal.
Makes it look nice too 🙂
Gently toss them into a soft boil for about 2-3 minutes and scoop out right into the sauce.
For the sauce you saute the maters until slightly soft and browned, add the garlic and olive oil and cook down further on low to medium to meld the flavors. I left a few of them whole for some texture.
Yum this was good!
You can sprinkle on some parmesan cheese if you like.
There’s nothing like fresh pasta 🙂
I have a feeling we may be getting more of these in our baskets to come, so I’ll have to figure out other ways to use eggplants. I believe we got the Italian pack with our basket tomorrow and I’m looking forward to that one since I love anything Italian 🙂
I’m going to be posting another one of my favorite recipes with this gem, can you guess what it may be?
What’s your favorite eggplant recipe?
I’m the same way – I really want to like eggplant and keep trying it different ways periodically but, alas…still don’t like it. Bitter. Gooey texture. Bleh. They’re so big, “bulby”, and beautifully colored though! Your ravioli looks really good. I need to get a pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. 🙂 I would try eggplant again to try out this recipe! Looks yummy, Kristen! (I’m also interested in trying Bountiful Baskets. Heard lots of good things about them but I need to look up more info. I’ll have to check out your link!) P.S. We have some of those same white/tan plates. 🙂
Comment by Missi — August 5, 2011 @ 11:09 am
@Missi, Thanks! Definitely have to get the pasta attachment! We also have the fettuccine one too. Takes a little practice, but Chris is the pasta making master now 😉 We like the baskets because they are really reasonable and we base our weekly meals around them so it saves money too. You can get organic, but we get conventional. Many people think they have local produce, but it’s not. It’s what you would get from a grocery store, but they purchase with deep discounts from growers and don’t have a lot of overhead costs. The quality is really good though.
Comment by Kristen :) — August 5, 2011 @ 4:32 pm
This looks delicious! I just had to comment on your butterfly gold dishes too! My family had these when I was growing up and now my sister uses them and they are kind of a little inside standing joke in our family. Love ’em!
Comment by Laura L — August 5, 2011 @ 11:35 am
@Laura L, Thanks! Yep, those are some very old plates in our family too 🙂 They were given to us when we moved in to have something to eat on and I kinda like ’em. They’re vintage 🙂
Comment by Kristen :) — August 5, 2011 @ 4:22 pm
I recently made ratatouille which is a great way to use eggplant too. Your ravioli looks so yummy! I’ve only attempted to make pasta once, and although it was amazing, it was sooo time consuming.
Comment by Kelly@foodiefresh — August 5, 2011 @ 1:57 pm
What a great use of eggplant! I inevitably use it to make ratatouille.
Comment by BroccoliHut — August 5, 2011 @ 5:27 pm
If you decide to make pasta the “egg volcano” way I’ve found success if you start with a little to much flour than the recipe recommends. It makes it easier to keep the walls of the volcano high while the egg is being absorbed into the flour. Once the ball looks to start forming you can brush the extra to the side and use it if it starts sticking to the counter.
You can also use a little less egg and throw in some wine or beat juice for color if you want to have some fun.
Comment by Chris — August 5, 2011 @ 9:15 pm
This sounds wonderful, Kristen!! Oh man. Worth all the effort, I’m sure. My favorite way to eat eggplant is the easy way; either topped with breadcrumbs/Panko and grilled, or just grilled with EVOO and some spices!
Comment by The Candid RD — August 7, 2011 @ 4:35 am
This recipe would make me a very happy camper. Thanks for sharing!!! Have a great weekend.
Comment by Roz@weightingfor50 — August 7, 2011 @ 7:54 am
Great tips!
Comment by Kristen :) — August 7, 2011 @ 1:33 pm
oh wow that sounds yummy. I LOVE eggplants, but they absorb way too much oil so what I do is I grill them. I always have grilled eggplants in the fridge and I just cut it up and top my salad with it. I slice it so I have circles, then I lightly spread a mixture of oil, balsamic vinegar and Italian seasoning on each side and grill for a couple min.
Comment by Nutritious Foodie — August 7, 2011 @ 2:29 pm
@Nutritious Foodie, ooh sounds great!
Comment by Kristen :) — August 7, 2011 @ 3:06 pm
[…] “What to Do with an Eggplant” – blog post by the Eating RD. So helpful, because I always seem to find myself wondering what the heck to do with those awkwardly shaped purple vegetables! […]
Pingback by Food and Fitness Advice From Others « dinedashdeadlift — August 9, 2011 @ 10:18 pm
That looks delicious! Lately I’ve been loving grilled eggplant, especially in a wrap or sandwich. It’s soooo easy and even works on a counter-top grill.
Comment by Tiff @ Love Sweat and Beers — August 10, 2011 @ 9:37 am