Monday, March 2, 2009

Crusted Eggplant with Orzo-Wild Rice stuffing

I haven't eaten eggplant since last summer, so this FS recipe test was a chance to make stuffed eggplant again. The recipe suggests using mesquite flour to coat the eggplant, but I've found that's a hard ingredient to find in Fargo. Has anybody out there cooked with mesquite flour, or have any ideas on it? I used a matzo meal instead - matzo meal is my usual replacement when recipes call for fine bread crumbs, since most commercial bread crumb products contain eggs and dairy. The stuffing here features walnuts, carrots, orzo, and wild rice - I used a nice multi-rice blend sold in bulk at a local store. Pretty good, and I love the creamy texture of nicely roasted eggplant. As with all stuffings, this one is open to all kinds of variation and experimenting.

6 comments:

miss v said...

wow! i can't wait to have some fresh eggplant around. this looks incredible!

Tami said...

My eggplant experience has definitely been minimal. I need to branch out-- these look wonderful!

Bianca said...

Lovely presentation! But if I made that I'd have to peel the skin off. I wish I could make myself like eggplant skin because it's so pretty...but I can't get past the texture.

And I've never even heard of mesquite flour!

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

that looks awesome.

Theresa said...

I loved stuffed anything, and that looks really great! I get really frustrated with buying bread crumbs, too--here, they mostly contain tuna oil. Ack! We usually make our own from stale bread or use polenta.

Anonymous said...

This looks really good; I love eggplant.

As for breadcrumbs ... I just take the crust off the ends of bread and put them in my blender. The air dries them out. When the blender is full, I turn it on and, voila, breadcrumbs. The longer you blend, the finer they become. I also add seasoning to suit different recipes ie. oregano or curry powder. Then I put it in the freezer to bring out whenever I need it.