Basil and Eggplant

Basil is one of those herbs that makes me want to keep on living. The scent is amazing and the taste is incredible, especially when mixed with the right flavors. Pesto is one of the main ways basil is used in our house. Throwing the large leaves in my personal blender does not fair well for a smooth pesto sauce, so I find that the chiffonade style of cutting herbs works quite splendidly. To chiffonade, simply stack clean leaves on top of one another and roll together tightly. Then take a knife and cut across the roll to produce thin strips.

Toss into a blender with a splash of olive oil, some salt, and minced garlic. This is my recipe for pesto. Traditionally there is a nut (pine nuts usually) and parmesan cheese added as well. Pesto is delicious used as a sandwich spread, tossed with hot pasta, or as a base sauce for a pizza.

Raw Eggplant Pesto Pizza is one of my favorite summertime recipes. This recipe calls for a dehydrator, which really helps soften up the eggplant. Alternatively you can put these in the oven and bake them for a bit. I've never tried baking them, but it would be equally delicious.

Raw Eggplant Pesto Pizza

1 good sized eggplant

salt

prepared pesto

3 -4 mushrooms sliced (baby portobellos are good)

olive oil

tamari or soy sauce

fine chopped onion

sliced cherry tomatoes or tomato fine diced

First slice the eggplant into thin but not to thin rounds. You can leave the skin on or cut it off, as it is a bit tougher to chew. If baking, leaving the skin on should be fine. Salt both sides of the eggplant rounds and lay in a colander to drain in the sink. Leave them there for 10 - 30 minutes. This helps soften the eggplant as well as remove some of the bitterness.

Take the sliced mushrooms and put them in a bowl. Drizzle some olive oil on them, about 2 Tablespoons or more if needed. Pour in 1 tablespoon or more tamari and toss together. Set mushrooms aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes or more.

Once the eggplant has softened, rinse the rounds with water and pat with a clean dish towel or paper towel to dry. Spread a layer of pesto on each round and then top with marinated mushrooms (you can drain the marinade off, or just carefully dish out the mushrooms watching to not add to much liquid to the pizzas), tomatoes and onions.

Place these on a lined dehydrator try and dehydrate for 1 - 4 hours at 104 degrees F. The longer they dehydrate the softer they get and the more the flavors meld. Alternatively place on a lined baking sheet in the oven for 15 to 20 min or at 375 degrees F.

Here is a before and after shot of the dehydrating. The eggplant really softens up and the olive oil in the pesto sinks in to make it really amazing.

Here is another quick and easy dinner option using eggplant and basil. Salt and drain peeled eggplant rounds the same as described in the recipe above. Place on a oiled or lined baking sheet and roast for 20 to 25 minutes or until softened at 425 degrees F. Place them in a baking dish and top with tomato slices and basil strips. Then add some salt and pepper and minced garlic. Take some bread and toss into a food processor with olive oil, basil strips, salt, and some more minced garlic. Top the dish with the breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for 25 min at 425 degrees F. You can cover with some foil for the first 15 minutes to keep the breadcrumbs from burning. Enjoy!

Sorry there are not any pictures of the finished dish. I had some store bought breadcrumbs at the time so used those and it did not make for a very pretty plate of food, although it was very tasty. Day old sourdough bread would be perfect to turn into breadcrumbs for this dish.