A LONELY EGGPLANT

Photo:  Copyright 2011, Jacapo Pandolfini

Yesterday I had a lonely eggplant in my fridge.  It was a long, beautiful, purple one.  Instead of turning it into a pasta sauce as usual, or into a side dish, I wanted to experiment with something new.  I had an idea: my eggplant was perfect for an Italian version of my favorite middle eastern dish, the babaganoush - an eggplant cream with a delicious spicy flavor.

I had a big chunk of ‘pecorino di grotta’ -  a sheep cheese, aged in the darkness of the caves, and I needed something to enhance the beautiful flavor of this cheese.  I improvised this  recipe with what I had at home. I used three olives, forgotten in a little Chinese bowl (a leftover of an antipasto), a  lemon rind and some fresh mint leaves picked from one of my herb vases.  I made this mousse my way - with an authentic Italian flavor.  I served it in a bowl, ready to be spread with cheese slices or to use as grissini (bread sticks) for dipping.  Add a generous glass of hearty red wine, and my antipasto was perfecto!

 EGGPLANT MOUSSE

1 eggplant

Lemon zest to taste

Mint leaves

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

½  garlic clover

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°

Cut the in eggplant in half and bake until tender (approximately 20 minutes).  Carefully peel the eggplant halves.  Dice the pieces, and place in the food processor.  Add garlic, oil, salt, pepper and some mint leaves and lemon zest.  Process until well blended.  Arrange the mousse into a nice circular shape, garnishing with mint leaves and olives.  Serve at room temperature with bread sticks and aged cheese.