We find ourselves making this one week after week for the past few months. It’s easy and extremely flavorful.
We’ve tried with a number of different cheeses. Some worked well. Others not as well–but because they melted too well and it all became a delicious mess. On the other hand, this might be a draw for some. Paneer and juustoleipa (Finnish squeaky cheese) work well. Dubliner does not.
I’ve put in to serve it over farro, because we love the nutty, chewy taste and texture. But you could use any number of things: brown rice, couscous, other grains, or noodles. Note that the caloric estimate is including farro.
Roasted Eggplant, Tomatoes and Cheese
Tasty, simple meal you'll come back to again and again.
Ingredients
For vegetables and cheese
- 1-1/2 pounds eggplant diced 1/2-inch
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 5 garlic cloves halved
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 pound firm, bakeable cheese cut into 1/2-inch cubes
For sauce
- 1 cup parsley leaves
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
For serving
- 1 c farro uncooked
Instructions
- Start the farro cooking. I use a rice cooker with twice as much water as farro and a splash of olive oil. It results in a fairly chewy grain. Add more water if you want it less so. This is the longest cooking step in the recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- On a sheet pan, toss the eggplant and tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Spread into a single layer with the tomatoes cut side up. Add the garlic and get some of the oil on them, but leave them together so you can find them easily later.
- Roast for 25 minutes until the eggplant is starting to brown at the edges and the tomatoes are wrinkling. Pull out the roast garlic for use in the dressing.Scatter the cheese on the pan and continue roasting for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is lightly golden.
- To make the dressing, put garlic, parsley, lemon juice, tahini, salt and peper into the bowl of a food processor. With the motor running, drizzle the olive oil through the feeder tube processing until the mixture is fully combined. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times to get the parsley fine enough.
- Pour dressing onto the roast ingredients. Gently toss to coat everything.
- Serve over cooked farro.
Notes
| Nutrition of dish alone: |  |
Nutrition including farro |  |