Eggplant Gratin

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My husband and I enjoyed some wonderful eggplant from our No. Colorado farmers' market. I salted and drained some of the bitter liquid from the eggplant and then used a cast iron skillet to brown and cook them through. I used milk instead of half and half and it worked wonderfully! Also grated some garlic into the ricotta custard and almost doubled the ricotta. The eggplant turned out caramel-y, savory and so delicious!

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I made a few minor changes - used 1 cup of marinara and a little more cheese. I also used minced garlic and put it all in one dish instead of 2. I took everyone?s advice (baking the eggplant instead of frying it.

To prep the egg plant I did the following:
Clean the outside by running it under cool water. Chop off the stem. Slice the eggplant in half length wise. Make ? inch slices. Immediately spray the slices with lemon juice so it will not turn brown. Apply a generous amount of salt on each side of the eggplant and place in a colander in the sink for 30 minutes. With a paper towel wipe off the salt (do not rinse and squeeze the excess water from the slice. Brush each side with olive oil and bake @ 400 degrees 8 minutes each side. Proceed with recipe.

This was a great dish. We ate the entire thing in one sitting!

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i did not know how my eggplant you can get from 3 plants! TONS! I made this with my own twist. I used a 9 by 13 glass dish, cooked the eggplant in butter, it browned better. I used 3 different cheeses, parm, mozz. and an italian blend, I know Ina is saying no pre-shredded cheese, but I was pleasantly surprised. Little sauce on bottom, eggplant, more suace, ricotta mixture then repeat. I topped it with shredded mozz. cheese. YUMMY, This is a meal in itself, little garic bread, done!! THANKS CONTESSA

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I make this dish at least every 2-3 weeks because my husband and I are CRAZY about it! It's easy, compared to the Eggplant Parmesan I used to make. I don't make separate gratin dishes, just one Pyrex dish, adding the marinara sauce 1st, then the ricotta mix last after the second layer of eggplant. Ina is right, the frying part is messy, but the end result is fantastic. By the way, it freezes well. Also. I substitute evaporated milk if I don't have half and half, and notice no flavor change at all. I have also added garlic at times. Great way to have a non-meat meal. My husband comments the entire meal about how much he loves it. We call it "Italian night" and usually have salad, bread and wine. By the way, it freezes well.

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I made this about a week ago for a friend that was less than enthused when I said I was making an eggplant dish to share. Boy was she surprised when she tasted this! The flavors are layered so perfectly...its leaves you with just a sensational taste in your mouth. I will agree that the way the directions read was a little confusing. To help remind chefs that it is written and intended to be made in two separate portions, it could possibly have said "After the first layer of eggplant is layed, divide and cover the eggplant with marainara sauce, using the entire amount evenly between the two ramekins". That way, if you were making it in a single casserole dish as I did, you would have known to put the entire sauce in all at once. I kept thinking it they meant to make more layers when it really only has two. Thanks for another great recipe!

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Baked the eggplant after brushing with olive oil and placing on a parchment lined cookie sheet, this intensifies the flavor of the eggplant. The ricotta with eggplant and marinara is very Mediterranean and easy to put together. Making it again this weekend!

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I am a big fan of eggplant parm but it is labor intensive and takes alot of time. This is almost as delicious. This is easy and quick and if you use the Japanese eggplant as recommended, there is no need to peel. To the person asking about when to add the other half...half is used for one gratin dish and half for the other. The recipe is written using 2 individual gratin dishes.

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I also baked the eggplant on 400 for about 15 minutes. Everyone like it including my 2 yr.old. I wonder if you can make this and freeze it for later??? It didn't get as brown as Ina's, but who cares.

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We made this Saturday for dinner. But the biggest difference was that we sweated the eggplant before we cooked it.

Sweating is when you sliced the eggplant place it on a platter and sprinkle it with sea salt on both sides to pull moisture out of the eggplant first. I did this twice since our eggplant was fresh from the farmers market. Between each sweating and when I was done I patted it dry with a clean towel.

Also we lightly fried ours so it wasn't as oily. Came out great and no one noticed the difference...

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...and it's always a hit. Recently, I have been baking eggplant prior to making most dishes with it so I will try that with this one.
Patricia from NJ - the other 1/2 of the ricotta mixture goes into the second gratin dish.