No Fry Eggplant Mootz Recipe
Preface: Mootz - pronunciation of mozzarella in the old neighborhood. Roni - must I explain?
Dear Great Nanna, Nanna and Mimi:
I felt guilty when I made this meal last night. You all passed before Babe was diagnosed with Celiac Disease so I'm not apologizing for using gluten free bread to make the bread crumbs in place of stale Lupi-Legna crusty Italian bread. I am apologizing for substituting skim mootz for full-on parmigiano reggiano; for broiling the eggplant slices with a slight coat of EVOO instead of pan frying the egg and flour coated slices; for using my electric pressure cooker instead of standing over stove top risotto and stirring away for what seemed like hours; for not making the extra sauce that you always did to cover the roni or risotto somewhat so we could mop. The dish was almost as good as yours. I miss you much.
Love,
Desert Panz
Ingredients
- 1 mediium to large eggplant
- Bread crumbs - homemade or store bought. Mine were homemade GF
- 1/2 pound of mootz or your choice of cheese
- Salt for sweating the eggplant slices and then a 1/4 tsp for the breadcrumb mixture
- 1.5 Tbs Italian seasoning
- Freshly ground pepper - about a half dozen twists
- 6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup risotto or your choice of a pound of roni
- 28 oz of tomato sauce (we use Muir Glen organic) plus another 8 to 16 oz extra to coat the risotto/roni.
Directions
- Eggplant prep:
- Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds. (We prefer thinner slices.)
- Lay-out the slices on a baking tray and salt each slice to draw out water and bitterness. You can skip this step. Sometimes I do. Let stand for a half hour to hour, depending how much time you have.
- Rinse each slice and pat dry after the sweat-time is up.
- Set broiler to high and broil until the slices are slightly golden. 3 or 4 minutes, watch to avoid burning.
- Remove from oven and set aside.
- Breadcrumbs:
- While the eggplant is sweating pull apart about 6 slices of bread.
- Place on a broiler-proof tray and broil until golden.
- Remove from oven and transfer to food processor. Pulse until you achieve texture to your liking. (Placing bread slices into your toaster to toast does not remove all the moisture.)
- Place the crumbs in a mixing bowl and mix-in the Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp salt and freshly ground pepper. Place in air-tight container and set aside.
- Baking:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- While oven is heating, lightly oil the bottom and sides of a baking dish or rectangular pan.
- Spread a base of the tomato sauce followed by the eggplant, breadcrumbs and mootz. Repeat until complete. (I do not warm the sauce but do add a couple Tbs of Italian seasoning to the can and mix.)
- Place in middle rack of oven.
- About 20 minutes in add more mootz to the top.
- Check at the 30 minute mark. Baking is done when a fork easily slides through the eggplant and the last layer of mootz is lightly golden.
- Pressure Cooker Risotto:
- I start preparing the risotto about half way through the eggplant baking.
- Drop a Tbs or two of olive oil into the cooking chamber. Choose the Saute function.
- Add cup of risotto once the oil begins to shimmer.
- Stir the risotto and turn the cooker off once the risotto turns to a whitish color.
- Add two cups of water and a tsp of garlic powder or one crushed garlic clove.
- Set the pressure cooker to 7 minutes.
- Manually release the pressure and remove the risotto to a serving bowl.
- General Notes: My measurements of salt, pepper and other seasoning are to suit our taste so you might have to adjust. The risotto instructions work perfectly for my pressure cooker. You might have to adjust the cooking time by a minute or two, depending on your cooker’s PSI. If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can make roni. Or, prepare the risotto on the stove top. That ain’t gonna happen in our house.
Adding to Planner
Nutrition Facts
| Amount Per Serving | %DV |
|---|---|
| Serving Size 151g | |
| Recipe makes 6 servings | |
| Calories 166 | |
| Calories from Fat 133 | 80% |
| Total Fat 15.01g | 19% |
| Saturated Fat 2.41g | 10% |
| Trans Fat 0.01g | |
| Cholesterol 4mg | 1% |
| Sodium 718mg | 30% |
| Potassium 450mg | 13% |
| Total Carbs 7.23g | 2% |
| Dietary Fiber 2.0g | 7% |
| Sugars 5.63g | 4% |
| Protein 2.38g | 4% |
