Eggplant Ricotta Dumplings ala Parmigiana & a Multitude of Cookbooks!

It’s the end of winter; last week the roads and paths on our walks were still icy and the wind had a bitter bite.

We are hearing more birds, the light is bright and the air smells sweet- spring feels like it is just around the corner.

I love cookbooks and have way too many. The shelves in the pantry are lined with dog eared and batter smudged cookbooks and the bookshelves in our living room are lined with cookbooks that were once eagerly read and and since have become ignored.

One of my favorite food writers is Yotam Ottolenghi, an Israeli born British chef. His recipes are deeply flavorful and creative. A few years ago for the holidays, my daughter and I surprised each other with the same Ottolenghi book!

Lately, when I come downstairs in the morning, I have discovered several volumes of cookbooks opened up to enticing looking recipes- little suggestions from someone??

One of the books was opened up to page from Ottolenghi’s book, Flavor. The recipe for Eggplant Ricotta Dumplings looked delicious and even though the recipe included ricotta and parmesan cheese, it did not look too rich.

The recipe had several steps, but was not difficult and the resulting dish was well worth any extra effort.

Roasted eggplant was combined with ricotta, eggs, parsley, fresh breadcrumbs, garlic and basil, formed into oval shaped dumplings and baked in a light paprika inflected tomato sauce topped with kalamata olives and basil. It tasted like a combination of eggplant parmigiana and baba ganoush. A few portions were leftover; the flavors melded overnight and were delicious the next day!

Eggplant Ricotta Dumplings ala Parmigiana (from Yotam Ottolenghi’s book, Flavor

1 1/2 cups/90g fresh breadcrumbs, ideally sourdough
4 eggplants, cut into roughly 2½cm cubes (1kg net weight)
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons/150ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
6 tablespoons/100g ricotta
2/1/12 ounces/75g parmesan, finely grated, plus extra to serve
2½ tbsp parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 whole egg, plus 1 yolk extra
1½ tbsp plain flour
6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 tbsp basil leaves, roughly chopped- I did not have basil on hand- chopped parsley worked well!
large can peeled plum tomatoes , blitzed smooth
1½ tsp tomato paste
1½ tsp sugar– I omitted sugar in my version
¼ tsp chili flakes
¾ tsp paprika
2 tsp fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups/ 400 ml water
1/3 cup/45g pitted kalamata olives, torn in half

Heat the oven to 350F/160C. Spread out the breadcrumbs on an oven tray and bake for 12 minutes, until lightly browned and dried out. Remove, leave to cool and turn up the oven to 450F/220C.

On a large oven tray lined with baking paper, toss the eggplants with 5 tbsp/ 75ml oil, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Spread out on the tray, bake for 30 minutes, tossing once halfway, until golden brown, then chop into a chunky mash and put in a large bowl. Mix in the ricotta, parmesan, parsley, egg, extra yolk, flour, breadcrumbs, a third of the garlic, two and a half tablespoons of basil, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. With lightly oiled hands, shape the mix into 16 golf-ball-sized dumplings, each weighing about 2 oz/ 55g each, and compress so they hold together.

Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large, nonstick frying pan on a medium-high flame, and fry half the dumplings for three to four minutes, turning them until golden brown all over (adjust the heat if they’re browning too much), then transfer to a plate and repeat with the rest of the dumplings.

Heat the remaining two tablespoons of oil in the same pan, fry the remaining garlic for a minute, until fragrant, then stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, chilli, paprika, oregano, a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, for eight minutes, or until thickened slightly. Pour in 400ml water, bring to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the dumplings and cook for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Remove from the heat, scatter over the olives, the last of the basil and a grating of parmesan, and serve straight from the pan.

ENJOY!!

AND: Here is the “Tree of the Week”:

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING!!