All in the Family : Fresh Tomato Sauce Coats a Luscious Timbale of Eggplant, Peppers and Cheeses

T’S A WONDER that my fondness for eggplant survived my early days as a vegetarian. Eggplant was a staple for those too timid to test the parameters of meatless cuisine, and preparation involved sauteing in oil, dousing with tomato sauce and pelting with cheese, rendering a gooey mass of mush.

But my enchantment with eggplant was fixed, dating from a memory of a sunny day in childhood. I was a city-raised 6-year-old and knew as well as the next kid on my block that vegetables came from the Shop Rite. But then I witnessed a miracle. On a visit with my grandparents, I followed my grandfather--a square-built Old World Armenian--into the garden behind his home and watched him tug at something close to the ground. When he straightened, he brandished one perfect glossy crescent, purple-black with a cap of green. He may as well have pulled a rabbit from a hat.

Like most Middle Eastern cooks, my grandfather knew enough ways to cook eggplant to exhaust a harvest many times the size of his own. Throughout the years, he served it to me stuffed with ground lamb and pine nuts, brushed with olive oil and broiled, pureed with ground sesame seeds and spooned into pita pockets. I don’t remember which method he used that first day; I simply recall that feasting on the glorious garden-grown fruit gave me a sense of the world as a place of hidden pleasures.

My favorite approach to eggplant dishes is to keep the ingredients “all in the family” that includes tomatoes and peppers. These siblings have a striking affinity for one another, complementary in color, texture and taste, nowhere more evident than in luscious mousselike terrines.

EGGPLANT TIMBALES IN TOMATO CREAM

2 medium eggplant (about 2 pounds)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 shallots, minced

2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 large red bell pepper, roasted, seeded, peeled, and chopped

1/4 cup ricotta cheese (low fat, if desired)

1/4 cup finely grated mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal

Tomato Cream

To steam eggplant, put it in metal colander or large steaming rack and place inside kettle or dutch oven. Add a few inches of water, cover, and steam until eggplant is easily pierced through with fork, about 30 minutes. Remove eggplant from steamer and let cool.

Line a bowl with paper towels. When cool enough to handle, cut eggplant in half lengthwise and scoop pulp into towel-lined bowl. Let pulp drain 15-20 minutes. Pat dry and transfer to cutting board. Chop coarsely and set aside.

Heat olive oil in wide skillet. Add shallots and garlic, and saute over low heat until shallots become translucent. Add oregano, salt, and eggplant and continue to saute, stirring occasionally to keep from sticking. Transfer to workbowl of food processor or blender. Add egg, red bell pepper, ricotta, mozzarella and cornmeal. Process until smooth.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 4 6-ounce oven-proof ramekins or custard cups. Distribute eggplant mixture evenly among them. Place ramekins inside deep baking dish and pour in hot water halfway up ramekins’ sides. Cover tightly with foil and place in oven.

Bake at 400 degrees two hours, checking often to maintain water level. Timbales (rhymes with thimbles ) are done when a knife inserted in center tests clean. Remove from heat and let cool on rack. Loosen each timbale by running a knife around edge. Turn out onto individual serving plates by placing serving plate over ramekin, then, holding both tightly together, flipping over so ramekin is inverted onto plate. Serve drizzled with tomato cream. Makes 4 servings.

Tomato Cream

1 tablespoon butter

1 large garlic clove, cut lengthwise into four thin slices

4 fresh Italian plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)

1 bay leaf

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

In wide skillet, melt butter over low heat. Saute garlic in butter until slices start to brown. Discard garlic. Raise heat to medium flame and add tomatoes. Add bay leaf, and saute until tomatoes break down, about 3 minutes. Add sugar and salt, lower heat and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes more. Discard bay leaf.

Transfer tomatoes to workbowl of food processor or blender. Add cream and process until smooth. Return to skillet and reheat gently just before serving; do not let mixture boil. Yield: approximately 2/3 cup.

Food stylist: Diane Ellander.