Editorial
Front Page - Friday, April 16, 2010
Kay's Cooking Corner
Kay Bona
Don loved Nona’s (his deceased grandmother) fried eggplant when he was young. However, he claims he never saw what one really looked like until one fateful day when he was five or six years old. He was doing something he shouldn’t, and – well we all know the consequences of disobedience!
His story is about a very scary eggplant that, as he tells it, chased him! Read on…
When little Donnie was about five or six years old, his mom told him and his brothers and sisters (of which there were eight), “not to open the refrigerator door and just stand there with it open allowing the cool air get out.” As kids, we have all heard that once or twice.
One day, little Donnie, knowing better, decided to go against his mom’s instruction, and opened it anyway to see what kind of goodies might be stashed inside. Naughtiness never pays.
He says, being small, I had to tug and tug on the door of that old Frigidaire refrigerator, jarring it somewhat. Once I got it open, I had shaken it so much, an eggplant that had been resting peacefully on a shelf, bolted out and started rolling along the floor, chasing me. Well, having never actually seen an eggplant live and in-person, I didn’t know what it was, other than it was just this big, horrid, purplish black, head-looking thing that was rolling along the floor chasing me! I went screaming and shaking from the kitchen into my room, never to open the refrigerator door again!” Even to this very day, he has a difficult time eating eggplant.
That attacking eggplant re-mains vivid and quite alive even now, as you can plainly see as he tells of the horror. His eyes get wide and his arms start flinging around – next time you see him, ask him about “The Eggplant that Chased Little Donnie.”
Today’s recipe, of course, is a delicious eggplant timballo. Timballo means pasta pie. It is delicious, and I promise it won’t chase you! (if it does, please let me know!)
Eggplant timballo
2 large eggplant
14 ounces spaghetti
2 links Italian Sweet
Sausage
2 cloves garlic, crushed
16 ounce of tomatoes, diced
1 small can sliced
black olives
20 fresh basil leaves,
chopped well
6 ounces Pecorini Romano
cheese, shredded
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Wash the eggplant and cut lengthwise into half-inch slices. Put the slices in a colander, salting each layer and set the colander in the sink for about an hour to allow the salt to draw the juices from the eggplant.
Sauté the Italian sausage and the garlic in small amount of olive oil until sausage is crumbled and cooked. Add the tomatoes, olives and basil to the skillet, and simmer over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow sauce to cool.
Cook the pasta in salted water until it reaches the firm al dente stage; drain.
Pat the eggplant slices dry and place under broiler; turn so both sides are golden. Combine pasta with the tomato sauce; adding about 4 ounces of the cheese and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a round 8-inch deep-dish pie plate, line it with parchment paper and then arrange the eggplant slices to cover the bottom and sides of the dish, with some hanging over the edges. Fill the eggplant “crust” with the pasta, folding any the eggplant slices that hang over the edges onto the top of the pie. Use remaining slices to form a top crust. Press down firmly with your finger tips to level the surface of the pie, drizzle the top with more olive oil, and bake for 20 minutes.
Let the timballo cool slightly before serving. Turn it out onto a serving dish, and slice it, sprinkling the remaining shredded cheese over it.
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