Baked Orzo with Eggplant and Mozzarella

Page: smittenkitchen.com/blog/2012/09/baked-orzo-with-eggplant-and-mozzarella/#more-8919

Cuisine: Mediterranean | Course Type: Main Courses

(1 review)

View photos (1)

Tags: vegetarian

Recipe Review

Easy dish to put together with wonderful Mediterranean flavours.

There’s a little prep work involved as the vegetables need to be sautéed first (and the eggplant salted and drained before that) but there’s no need to precook the pasta which is a real timesaver. I only allowed the eggplant 2 tbsp olive oil to cook in - if I'd used the entire 1/4 cup, those sponge-like vegetable cubes would have absorbed it all - and 1 tbsp for the remaining vegetables, which worked out fine using a non-stick pan.

The proportion of liquid to pasta was perfect..... the pasta was al dente with a crispy layer on top, and being an Ottolenghi recipe with just a few minor changes, the flavour was fabulous: bright tomatoes, livened up even more by lemon zest, rich, meaty eggplant and gooey cheese, all of it flavoured with oregano.

All it needed was a salad to complete the meal.

(1) useful  

Comments

Queezle_Sister - 8th September 2012
I've been eyeing this recipe - but am reluctant to saute eggplant for the very reason you mention - it potentially soaks up so much oil! Did you use a non-stick pan? Just wondering how the eggplant let you get away with so little oil.

Zosia - 8th September 2012
I did use a non-stick pan and basically just stir fried it at the start, keeping the cubes moving until they were mostly browned, then lowered the heat to cook them through a bit more.

I was tempted initially to toss them in a little oil and broil them - I still think that would work.

aj12754 - 9th September 2012
I generally roast eggplant any time a recipe like this calls for sauteing it because I so dislike the oil-soaked eggplant sauteing usually gives me.

Login or register to add your own comments.