Indian Summer Grilled Eggplant Gratin

eggplant gratin3

There are 2 weeks left of the season at my local farmer's market until next June.

Boo hoo.

There are tons of apples and pumpkins and mums, telling us that fall is here and summer is gone, even though the weather is still nice and warm.

I was able to find some cheap red peppers this week and the last of the eggplants.

So I bought 3 eggplants and made a gratin.

I grilled the eggplant slices on the BBQ after being tossed w/ olive oil and plenty of kosher salt.

When the slices were cool enough to handle, I layered them in a casserole dish with plenty of grated Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and basil, and a layer of halved cherry tomatoes.

In between layers, I spread 1 cup of ricotta cheese mixed with 1 egg and all the herbs in my garden (almost gone for the season), including lovely chopped mint.
I sprinkled about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on top of the ricotta layer.



Then the top layer of sliced grilled eggplant and another topping of breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Drizzle w/ olive oil and bake at 375F for 40 minutes. Wait about 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Served with a big pan of sausage and peppers. This is the best of Indian summer food.



Goodbye beautiful summer produce, see you next year!

Comments

Grilled eggplant is one of my favorites!

It's funny, here in Florida our weekly FM's run from October-May.
SarahB said…
Looks delicious!!! Almost like an eggplant lasagna!
SarahB said…
Looks delicious!!! Almost like an eggplant lasagna!
Daniel Bingham said…
Looks delicious! And it is making me hungry even though I already ate a wonderful meal at a local vegetarian restaurant and it's nearly 9 pm here. Hmm... wonder if the night market is still open...
kat said…
That looks so good. We had a big eggplant conversation this weekend with friends it's amazing how people either love it or hate it.
Anonymous said…
Do you peel them? Inquiring minds want to know.
The JR said…
I'm gonna miss my garden veggies.
Oooh, my kind of a meal! I'm very hungry right now looking at all this. I made 2 eggplant dishes last week when it was in the 80's, now it's cold and I have butternut squash sitting on my counter!
Dana said…
Our local market ends this week. There are others that go all year, but this one is the closest. I don't understand it because the produce is at an absolute peak at this time of year. Everything is so gorgeous - I don't understand why they don't go for at least another month.
Claudia said…
I shouldn't come here. Now I have to go buy some eggplant (but we have five more weeks of Farmers Market...)
I love grilled eggplant, Stacy, and this looks like a wonderful way to serve it!
lisa is cooking said…
Summer went by way too quickly! I'm sad to see the tomatoes dwindling at the markets. This is great end of summer dish though. I just made an eggplant parm last night.
Jen_from_NJ said…
I love mint with eggplant! Your meal looks amazing!