Eggplant, Part I: Make a Cheese Pie with Eggplant

Today we have a guest blogger, Suellyn Shupe, who has the first of several eggplant recipes we'll feature this week, since those lovely purple and white globes have been in the share the last couple of weeks. Here's Suellyn's recipe . . .

I invited Nancy Sullivan to try this dish with me because I was determined to cook that gorgeous eggplant we got Saturday before it started to shrivel up. The recipe is from an excellent cookbook called Simply in Season which "was commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee to promote the understanding of how the food choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those who produce the food." The cookbook is available from Ten Thousand Villages in O'Bryonville, among other places.

Eggplant Cheese Pie

4 1/2 c. Eggplant cut into half inch cubes
1 med. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
In large fry pan, saute veggies in 1 1/2 Tbsp oil for 2 minutes. Cover and cook approximately 5 minutes, till eggplant is soft.

1 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried
Add herbs to pan and salt to taste.

1 small zucchini, sliced
Line bottom and sides of greased 10" pie pan with zucchini and spoon eggplant mixture on top.

2 cups fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 egg
Combine and pour over vegetables. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

This took less than an hour to make. It says serves six, but it's quite light, and Nancy and I polished off more than half of it with a salad on the side. I would count on serving three or four if using as a main dish.

Note: I sort of hated to use evaporated milk, but I didn't know if I could substitute regular milk 1 to 1. It got a bit watery after baking, but it didn't really matter because there is no crust to get soggy. Quite an appealing looking and tasty dish.