DDD Ep. #112 – Vegan Spinach-Stuffed Eggplant Rollatini with Homemade Arrabiata Sauce

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2018

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Click the image above to watch the video.

This is a really easy, 5-minute pasta sauce.  It is fairly spicy so cut back on the crushed red pepper if you are sensitive to heat.  Canned tomatoes are not desirable – even BAD – (read why you should avoid canned tomatoes & seven other foods HERE) – but they are sometimes the only affordable (and super convenient) option. .

Fresh herbs will also improve this sauce measurably but – in a pinch –  they are absolutely not REQUIRED to make this sauce tasty.

 

Five (5) Minute Arrabiata Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 27 oz carton tomato sauce
Garlic to taste
1 tsp each of crushed red pepper, oregano, pepper & sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Fresh thyme (optional)
Fresh basil – chopped (optional)

Fresh parsley – chopped (optional)

Fresh oregano – chopped (optional)
1 TBS olive oil

 

DIRECTIONS
Heat the olive oil. I sautéed maybe 10 tiny garlic cloves whole. If giant chunks of garlic offend you or yours, you might want to crush them a bit with the side of a knife or press them through a garlic press or chop them fine. Just do not burn the garlic and burning is easier – the smaller you chop the cloves. With whole cloves – I sautéed a minute before adding the spices. If you chopped the garlic – add it and the spices at once.After about a minute of both the garlic and all other spices sautéing – add the tomato sauce. Be careful as it will sputter and splatter you when it hits the hot oil.

A few minutes in – I used a slotted spoon to fish out the garlic cloves & put them through a garlic press but this is not totally necessary.Heat over med-low heat until ready to use. Add chopped fresh basil/parsley at the very end – if you are using fresh herbs.

Eggplant is an odd thing.  Some of my favorite dishes are made of eggplant – most markedly my nearly guiltless Indian Baingan Bharta & one of the most popular recipes of this blog’s history, my Spicy Vegan Chinese Eggplant – both seen just below.

But if it is cut into slices or cubes that are too large & then under-cooked – it can have an icky texture & an icky flavor.  Lots of people categorically reject it because the first time they tried it – it was yucky.  But it is so versatile & can take on so many flavors so well.  I love it & I feel certain I could convert more than a few haters – if I served them the right dish.

THIS dish might just be that dish – assuming they do not also hate spinach.   The eggplant is very subtle & melts in your mouth.  This could be customized a zillion ways.  There are no rules.  Just make a little mash of some flavors you like & roll’em up & bake them – and voila!  Yes – there are a few steps but none are difficult & the result is delightful.  A tad hard to photograph but really delicious.

 

 

Oh!  I got this new little garlic press at Bed Bath & Beyond for (I think) under ten dollars & I am kind of in love with it.  There are to ways to go with this – sliced or minced (there is a second blade tucked into the base) & all you do is press the garlic through & it creates a little drawer of crushed garlic for you.  Se easy & easy to clean & no garlic fingers!

 

 

Easy Eggplant Rollatini with Spinach 

Should feed 4

INGREDIENTS

2 medium eggplant – tops removed & sliced 1/4 inch thick (thick makes assembly harder)

1 lb fresh spinach (or 8 oz frozen or other spinach – thawed)

3-4  cups (28 0z or so) – marinara (your favorite brand or homemade or the one I  post below) or my 5-minute spicy arrabiata 

Handful vegan Parmesan

1/2 cup vegan ricotta

1/4 cup parsley – chopped

4 oz vegan mozzarella

S&P

Olive oil

More vegan mozzarella to melt on top – to taste

Parchment paper (if possible but not imperative)

Foil

Garnish: more cheese and/or parsley and/or basil

 

 

 

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the tops off the eggplant & try to cut them evenly 1/4 inch thick.  I used a mandolin.  Lay the slices on paper towels & sprinkle with salt.  Flip & salt the other side (lightly – so they won’t be overpowered by salt).  Salting the eggplant helps release excess moisture & can temper any bitterness.  Let them sit for about ten minutes.

Steam the fresh spinach by simply boiling a tiny bit of water to a very large stock pot & adding the spinach.  Cover the pan.  It should wilt in less than a minute (this works to thaw frozen spinach, too, though it might take longer).  Strain into a colander & run cold water on it.  Squeeze out as much water as you can & chop the spinach.

 

Put the spinach, parsley, & your Parmesan & ricotta & mozzarella cheese in a large bowl & blend.  Add some S&P.

 

Pat the eggplant slices dry & sprinkle with ground pepper.  Place them on a cooking sheet covered in parchment paper (or foil treated with cooking spray – because you do not want these guys sticking).  Bake about ten minutes.

Layer some sauce on the bottom of a casserole pan.  Spread about 2 TBS of the filling on each of the eggplant slices.  If you have extra – spread it around.  Carefully roll those guys up & place them in the pan, seam side down.

 

 

Layer some more sauce on top & then sprinkle with mozzarella.  Cover tightly with foil & bake for 1 hour.  Remove from the oven & uncover & let rest a good 5-10 minutes before cutting in.  Serve with more cheese and/or parsley and/or basil and copious red wine.  See?  You like eggplant!

 

 

 

 

 

Eggplant Parmesan Mini Towers with Fresh Mozzarella & Garlic Spinach

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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Once again, a recipe born of ingredients on hand.  I had extra Japanese eggplant from my Lavash Pizza with Whipped Feta, Grilled Eggplant, Red Onions & Arugula Salad.  I had lots of mozzarella & some tomatoes on their last legs.  I also had a GIGANTIC bag of spinach from a recent Super King venture.   I also had a container of really stale panko.  From these humble beginnings – these glorious mini towers were born!  Aren’t they pretty?  Know that they are less than two inches in diameter.   They are very cute but you would need at least 4 of these to call it a meal.  The recipe here shows what can be made with 3 Japanese eggplant – namely – about 10 of these mini towers.  You could recreate this using regular eggplant & larger (heirloom?) tomatoes.   If you use regular eggplant – prepare it like this before working with it:

Slice the eggplant, then salt it liberally and allow it to drain for an hour or so before cooking. Putting salt on the eggplant triggers osmosis, which draws out excess moisture and the bitterness along with it. Remove any excess salt by wrapping the eggplant in a kitchen towel and pressing on the slices or cubes, which removes even more water. Pressing the eggplant also collapses some of the eggplant’s air cells, so it absorbs less oil if it’s sautéed.

I added an extremely garlicky spinach to my towers but you could skip that layer easily.

Despite the fact that this recipe requires a few steps, none are difficult & this dish will likely impress your friends & neighbors & make the other ladies in the hood bitter & resentful about your superior culinary prowess.  So brace yourself for the haters.

Eggplant Parmesan Mini Towers with Fresh Mozzarella & Garlic Spinach

(Tip: When making a recipe like this, I always like to have MORE of every ingredient than the recipe calls for – just in case I use my ingredients more liberally that the person who created the recipe did.  It sucks to run out of one or two ingredients when making something like this.  So err on the side of having too much of each ingredient handy.)

INGREDIENTS

Cooking skewers

1 jar of your favorite marinara (or my marinara) or my 5 Minute Arrabiata)

3-4 Japanese eggplant – cut in 1/2 inch slices

2-3 Roma tomatoes – cut in 1/2 inch slices

10-15 basil leaves (plus extra for garnish)

2 eggs

1/4 cup water

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs

3/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp dry basil

1 tsp dry parsley

8 oz container fresh mozzarella – sliced up

1-2 cups grated Parmesan

Fresh rosemary sprigs if you want to top these as I did – but it is purely garnish

For the garlic spinach

1 lb fresh spinach – washed well

1 TBS (or less) crushed red pepper

10 garlic cloves (or less) – minced

olive oil

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS

For the garlic spinach

Heat about 1 TBS olive oil in a large saute pan.  Over medium heat – add the garlic & crushed red pepper.  Saute about 30 seconds & then add half the spinach.   Mix it around a minute or two so that the garlic doesn’t burn.  When that spinach is wilted, add the rest & scoop the wilted spinach on top of it.    It will all wilt quickly.  Add S&P to taste.  Remove from heat & drain in a colander.  I used about 1.5 pounds of spinach & it reduced to almost nothing – maybe 2 cups.

For the eggplant Parmesan mini towers

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Make your marinara (or arrabiata) – if you are using homemade.

Mix the panko & breadcrumbs with the 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp each of pepper, dry parsley & dry basil.  Whisk the two eggs.  Spray a cooking sheet (or wire rack) with cooking oil.

Saturate the eggplant with the eggs & then drag through the breadcrumbs & set on the cooking sheet.  Eventually, the breadcrumbs will get clumped up & you will have a harder time getting them to stick.  Don’t sweat it.  You don’t need full coverage.  Or you can just add more dry panko & breadcrumbs to the mix.

Bake these at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes or until they look golden.

Using a baking pan of some kind – like this – layer the bottom with some of your tomato sauce.

Then simply stack these bad boys up.  I forgot the spinach layer in my first one.  Oops!  It appears I layered mine in this order:  eggplant, Parmesan, spinach, tomato, mozzarella, basil, eggplant, mozzarella.  Carefully, skewer each of these guys with a wooden skewer broken in half.  Do not push the broken end through as that might leave splinters.

Bake another 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted & golden.  Place on plates, remove the skewers and serve with more tomato sauce & fresh basil & lots of freshly ground pepper.

Brown Rice & Quinoa Risotto with Arrabiata & Shrimp

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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This is kinda outrageously good.  I began by trying to just use the brown rice but I got impatient waiting for it to get creamy so I added some cooked quinoa which magically did the trick.  This can be used like any risotto & you could add anything your imagination comes up with.  I had leftover, frozen arrabiata, so I used that.   The shrimp can easily be omitted.  Vegan cheese could be used to make the dish vegan.

As an aside – NEVER buy this stuff:

At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I thought I’d save a dollar or two & buy the cheap stuff but that was a mistake.  First of all, it foams up like a bubble bath creating a Lucy moment of a bubble lava torrent spilling out of the dishwasher.  And – not only were most of the dishes not clean at the end of the cycle – but all clear glass came out looking frosted.  Just the worst.

2-1-13 UPDATE – I just noticed thus says “gentle on hands.”  Haha!  It sucks as a dishwasher detergent because it ISN’T a dishwasher detergent.  It if for hand washing.  So- nevermind what I just said above.

Anyway – this dish is really yummy & endlessly customizable – so – get creative!

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Brown Rice & Quinoa Risotto with Arrabiata & Shrimp

INGREDIENTS

1 lb shrimp – peeled & cleaned

olive oil

4 garlic cloves – minced

1 tsp crushed red pepper

S&P to taste

4 shallots – diced (or a small onion)

6+ cups stock (I used frozen, homemade shrimp stock)

2 cups uncooked brown rice

2+ cups pasta sauce (I used arrabiata)

2 cups cooked quinoa

1+ cups grated parmesan

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp dry basil

1 tsp parsley

fresh parsley

2 tomatoes – diced

DIRECTIONS

Cook your quinoa (in vegetable stock).  Set aside.

Heat 2 TBS olive oil in a frying pan.  Add the minced garlic & the crushed red pepper and after about a minute.  Add the shrimp & cook until just pink.  Undercooking is OK as they will cook further on their own & even more in the warm risotto.  Set aside.

Heat your 6+ cups of stock in a pan & let it simmer.

Heat 2 TBS olive oil in a large stock pot.  Add the shallots (or onion) and the brown rice. Fry the rice for 2-3 minutes.  The rice should become a little aromatic.  Lower heat to medium and add the dry oregano, basil & parsley.  Add one cup of the simmering stock & cook it off, stirring the whole time.  Add another cup of stock & repeat.  At this point – I got restless & added all the remaining stock, brought it to a boil, reduced the heat to low & let it simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.   Check to see if your rice is tender – erring on a tad overcooked rather than under.  If it is still al dente – add more water & steam it until it is cooked.

Add the cooked quinoa & the tomato sauce (arrabiata), the grated Parmesan & the shrimp.  Blend.  Heat it through & serve with fresh diced tomatoes, fresh chopped parsley & more grated Parmesan on top.

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“Back off, Bitch” Rigatoni & Vodka Sauce Eggplant Timbale with Basil Oil

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

 

A long, long time ago, I had a boyfriend – a different boyfriend than my current beau, the charming Miles Miller.  And that boyfriend had – egads! – ex-girlfriends.  One of these ex-girlfriends was (and remains) a famous actress.  A beautiful, famous actress.  She had been reaching out to him to “reconnect.”  My boyfriend at the time announced that he would be having dinner with this ex at some point in the future.  I informed him that I would be attending this dinner myself.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  “Nothing’s going on,” he explained.  “She just wants to get together.  We are friends.”  I explained that, as his live-in girlfriend, his friends should be my friends, too, and asked that if everything was so innocent, why couldn’t he just invite her over to our home for dinner.

It took a bit but I won this debate.  The invitation was extended & then the pressure was on.  ME.  On me because I had to cook the damned dinner – a dinner to impress this chick.  I wanted to impress her with both my culinary skills & with the level of our domesticity.  It was a passive-aggressive counter-attack to what I sensed were not entirely innocent intentions on her part.

This was pre-internet and pre-40 million cooking shows – so I had only my trusty collection of cookbooks to consult for ideas.  After hours of deliberating – I ended up making two dishes I had never made before – always very dangerous if making a good impression is your top priority.  I made a two-color soup much like this one (this one here is not my creation):

Photo borrowed from HERE.

And I made an eggplant timbale as shown here in this blog.  As fate would have it, my dinner was a huge success & the ex-girlfriend was smart & funny & charming & the two of us were quickly gabbing like old friends, nearly cutting my boyfriend from the conversation completely.

And – for the record, ladies (and gents) – this ex-girlfriend never “reached out” to “touch base” again – to either me or my boyfriend.  So – my instincts had been correct.  She had been perhaps interested in rekindling more than just old times.  But – to her credit – once she met me, she was forever respectful and was never again a threat to our domestic bliss.

So – if you ever need to impress someone or scare off some interested interloper from meddling with your love life – serve them this whopper of a dish.  It is far easier to make than folks guess and it tastes delicious – and it is classier than a slap fight & hair pulling.

As a side note – I didn’t really manage to get a photo of my effort last night that captured how impressive & elegant this dish can be.  I really underachieved on that front this time.  HERE are the Google images of other versions of this dish.  Some people cut the purple off their eggplant and some simply bake the eggplant into pliant submission.  In these cases – the result is a more uniform, monochromatic exterior that I feel is far less appealing.  They end up looking oddly slimy or, worse yet, fleshy.  So – I recommend the grilled version not only for the flavor that imparts but also for the visual.

I originally intended to add peas to this dish – also for the visual – but decided on a vibrant green basil oil, instead.  But if you like peas – just add a cup when you mix the filling.  The basil oil is a nice touch but TOTALLY optional.  Also – if you want a lighter dish – just use straight arrabbiata – rather than vodka sauce.  T o achieve this – simply omit the heavy cream from the recipe below.  I used mozzarella & goat cheese in this.  You might want to use feta or cheddar or smoked mozzarella, instead.  Smoked mozzarella with arrabbiata in this dish work really well.  Experiment.  Use your imagination.  You can’t really mess this up.

Also – as an aside, I bought this fucking gigantic can (I know canned tomatoes are bad but sometimes you gotta bend rules) of tomato sauce for $2.69.  That is practically free!  It makes 12 cups of whatever the Hell sauce you are making.  I made arrabbiata (surprise, surprise) and I froze 8 cups of it & used 4 cups of it to make the vodka sauce in this recipe.

Here is the recipe using the entire 6+ pound can shown above.

PRINT THIS LARGE QUANTITY SAUCE RECIPE ONLY

Arrabbiata Sauce – large quantity

INGREDIENTS

12 cups tomato sauce

1 cup olive oil

10 garlic cloves – chopped

2 TBS crushed red pepper

1 cup chopped parsley

1 cup chopped basil

1 TBS pepper

1 TBS sugar

1 tsp salt

1 TBS oregano

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil & saute garlic, crushed red pepper & oregano for a minute or two.  Add the tomato sauce – being careful not to get burned by the sputtering oil.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low & simmer for 30 minutes or more.

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“Back off, Bitch” Rigatoni & Vodka Sauce Eggplant Timbale with Basil Oil

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE VODKA SAUCE:

1/3 cup olive oil

3 garlic cloves – chopped

2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 cup parsley – chopped

1/2 cup basil – chopped

4 cups tomato sauce

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup vodka (optional)

1 tsp pepper 1 tsp sugar

1 tsp oregano

salt to taste

FOR THE BASIL OIL:

1 packed cup of fresh basil

3/4 cup high quality olive oil

FOR THE TIMBALE:

1 pound rigatoni

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella – diced

3 oz goat cheese

3 large eggplants

bread crumbs

Chopped tomato or chopped fresh parsley or basil – as garnish

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

BASIL OIL –

Blanch the basil in boiling water for 10-20 seconds than plunge into ice water.  Squeeze out the water & puree in a food processor with olive oil & salt to taste.  Go light on the salt.  Set aside.

VODKA SAUCE –

Heat oil & saute garlic, crushed red pepper & oregano for a minute or two.  Add the vodka & cook for a minute or so being careful not to get burned by the sputtering oil – then add the tomato sauce & heavy cream.   Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low & simmer for 30 minutes or more until sauce thickens a bit.

FOR THE TIMBALE –

Slice the eggplants into 1/4 inch slices.  You can go the long way or the other way – creating round disks.  Place in colanders or on paper towels & sprinkle with salt on both sides.  Let the eggplants drain for about 30 minutes.  This not only helps remove moisture from the eggplant but also minimizes bitterness.

You can either rub olive oil into your eggplant before grilling or you can dip them in an Italian salad dressing – really just to lubricate them so they do not stick to the grilling surface & tear apart.  Grill (a grill pan works, too) the eggplant until they get nice grill marks on one side, turn them & repeat.  Remove & set aside.

Cook the rigatoni according to the box directions.  Err on the side of under-cooking – as they will cook more in the oven.  Drain the rigatoni & mix in a bowl with cheeses (you can substitute smoked mozzarella or Parmesan or cheddar cheeses – if you prefer) & 2 cups of vodka sauce.  Add more sauce if you like a really wet pasta.  You will have extra vodka sauce that you can use to add as a garnish to the finished slices of timbale or to use in another recipe.  It might be nice to have extra sauce for the timbale when you are in the leftovers phase.

ASSEMBLY-

Grease a spring form pan & then put some bread crumbs inside.  Swirl the pan to coat all the surfaces with bread crumbs.  Throw any unstuck bread crumbs away.

Line the inside of the pan with grilled eggplant.  You can either do as I did here or, if you have circular disks, fan them on the bottom of the pan & then stick some, overlapping, up on the sides.  However you do it – try to cover every part of the pan with eggplant.  Pour the pasta & vodka sauce & cheese mix in.  Top with any remaining eggplant slices.

Cover the timbale in foil & place some heavy dishes on top & put in the fridge to compress for about 30 minutes.

Then – remove the foil & bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  Let rest, unmolested, for at least ten minutes and then put a serving dish on top of the timbale, flip the whole thing over & then very carefully – remove the spring form pan.

Place slices on plates & drizzle with basil oil (if using).  Garnish with either chopped tomatoes or chopped basil or parsley.

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Pizza Cupcakes Redux – Spinach & Kale Pesto

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2012
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So – after the success of my first pizza cupcake effort – I thought I broaden the experiment with other pizza toppings I had around.  I had leftover kale pesto, about 5 ponds of fresh spinach & several kinds of cheese.  I’m finding that the cheese doesn’t melt as much as I’d like before the crust gets too brown – so – you might want to play around with oven temperature.  I originally suggested 425 – but this might work a tad better around 350-375.  That way the cheese gets to sit n the heat for longer than ten minutes or so.  None of this is a science because all of us will roll our dough to varied thicknesses and use different ratios of cheese to other fillings etc.  And – our ovens are no calibrated exactly the same.  I found these spinach pizza cupcakes to be on the wet side – even though I used raw spinach.  I suspect a longer baking time at a lower setting will fix that.

For the spinach filling – I just tossed 2 cups or so of spinach with some olive oil, crumbled feta cheese & grated Parmesan cheese.  You could use all Parmesan or goat or whatever blend you prefer.  I left this in the fridge for a while & it wilted the spinach to the point that it could be manipulated better than the springy fresh, raw spinach leaves.

The kale pesto cupcakes were layered with mushrooms & my five-minute arrabiata sauce and cheese.  Again – these layers were randomly selected.  Experiment with your own favorite toppings.  If you are using any meats, though, be sure they are cooked before adding them as these cupcakes are not in the oven long enough to cook meat.

Just for fun – I will show you the layered progress of these two kinds of cupcakes:

Five (5) Minute Arrabiata Sauce

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2012

Follow @celisemccarthy

This is a really easy, 5-minute pasta sauce.  It is fairly spicy so cut back on the crushed red pepper if you are sensitive to heat.  Canned tomatoes are not desirable – even BAD – (read why you should avoid canned tomatoes & seven other foods HERE) – but they are sometimes the only affordable (and super convenient) option.  This can cost me $1.19.  That is CHEAP for 29 oz or delicious arrabiata.  I guess I will pay for it in doctor bills in the future.  😦

Fresh herbs will also improve this sauce measurably but – in a pinch –  they are absolutely not REQUIRED to make this sauce tasty.

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Five (5) Minute Arrabiata Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 29 oz can tomato sauce
Garlic to taste
1 tsp each of crushed red pepper, oregano, pepper & sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Fresh thyme (optional)
Fresh basil – chopped (optional)

Fresh parsley – chopped (optional)
1 TBS olive oil

 

DIRECTIONS
Heat the olive oil. I sautéed maybe 10 tiny garlic cloves whole. If giant chunks of garlic offend you or yours, you might want to crush them a bit with the side of a knife or press them through a garlic press or chop them fine. Just do not burn the garlic and burning is easier – the smaller you chop the cloves. With whole cloves – I sautéed a minute before adding the spices. If you chopped the garlic – add it and the spices at once.After about a minute of both the garlic and all other spices sautéing – add the tomato sauce. Be careful as it will sputter and splatter you when it hits the hot oil.

A few minutes in – I used a slotted spoon to fish out the garlic cloves & put them through a garlic press but this is not totally necessary.Heat over med-low heat until ready to use. Add chopped fresh basil/parsley at the very end – if you are using fresh herbs.

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