Scalloped Eggplant

I'm baaa-aack! My garden luck this year has been pretty spotty, some issues due to weather, some to the local varmint population (I curse you, pocket gophers and squirrels!), but the thing that is doing awesomely is a single Japanese eggplant. It is huge and loaded with long, skinny fruits. I can only justify frying them so often and I've already got enough roasted and frozen to make baba ganoush all winter long. Time to find something else to do with eggplant... enter the Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Emma Showalter.

I picked this little gem up a few years ago and while I haven't explored a lot of it, I do appreciate all the great vegetable dishes it contains.  There is one for "Baconized Corn" that I haven't tried yet, but it's on my to-try list.  I need more baconized foods in my life.

The eggplant: not just a vegetable, also a good book flattener!

As usual, I took a few liberties with the recipe so I could use what I had on hand, starting with about 8 long skinny eggplants instead of one large.  I'm guessing that my skinny eggplants did not add up to a large one, but I liked the end result. For my second variance, I replaced the tablespoon of green pepper with some fresh minced basil and then added some cubed marinated mozzarella that needed to be used up.  And in one final act of rebellion, I diced the bacon instead of just laying the strips across the top. 

Baconized eggplant!

Farm Boy and I really liked this.  The whole eggplant/tomato/basil combo really works and is complimented by the mild cheese and the bacon. The original recipe claims 5 servings, but we got 4 side-sized servings out of this.


Scalloped Eggplant (Printable recipe)
based on a recipe from The Mennonite Community Cookbook by Mary Emma Showalter, 1950

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon minced fresh basil
• 4 ounces Italian-marinated fresh mozzarella, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup soft breadcrumbs
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 strips bacon, diced

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F.

Peel eggplant and cut into 3/4" cubes.  Cook in salted water until tender and almost dry.  Add tomatoes, basil, mozzarella, salt and pepper and stir well.  Pour into a greased baking dish.  Combine the bread crumbs and melted butter and spread over top of eggplant mixture.  Top with diced bacon.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bacon is cripsy and breadcrumbs are golden.