Eggplant Manifestations

For some reason the eggplants I planted this year got stunted and look like very miniature eggplants.  I attribute this to the severe drought we have been under.  As I have to carry water to my very large garden, I watered the 'essential' plants:  tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and onions.  The other plants I left to fend for themselves.  Most of them have done very well, despite little water.

I purchased an eggplant from an Amish neighbor's stand, a very firm, large eggplant for only a $1.

One half of the eggplant got sliced into fat, longish 'sticks', brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt/pepper, a bit of cumin and chili power and covered with garlic, and let stand for a couple of hours prior to

putting on the grill, along with one red pepper from my garden.

I sliced the pepper and mixed it in with the eggplant for a Mexican take...

laid some on a wheat tortilla

covered that with homemade salsa, shredded cucumber (in the absence of any garden lettuce) shredded cheese, olive slices and fresh tomatoes...

along with fresh corn and melon from my garden, and salsa/chips, this made for a very tasty, quick supper.

The other half of the eggplant went into a Sicilian version of Caponata (growing up we pronounced it 'Capinadina')

...cubed eggplant, cut up onions, lots of garlic, chunks of celery (also from the garden) along with the leaves, fresh tomatoes washed and cut up, and a bit of sugar, salt/pepper...(sometimes with the addition of brined green olives) sauteed in olive oil until soft

...this is delicious in and of itself.  My grandmother used to can this every fall, and in the winter we enjoyed this flavorful dish along with fresh, crusty Italian bread.

As I had dough slow-rising in the refrigerator I thought I would make Calzones stuffed with Caponata....

roll out a piece of dough in  a circle, spread some basil pesto on half,

cover that with some cooled caponato and a sprinkling of Romano cheese, (one could also add shredded raw-milk Jack style cheese, but  I opted for less cheese)

fold over the other half of the dough, pinch the edges as you would for pie dough, brush with beaten egg, and place in a hot oven, 450 degrees, and bake for about 15 minutes.  Watch at the end, it should be firm, and golden

and look like these!

Served with a Sicilian green bean salad this was a meal to be remembered.

The Calzone cut open to reveal the stuffing. 

I only regret that we do not eat meals more times per day, as there are so many wonderful things to do with fresh garden produce.