Hasselback Eggplant

A cross between a Hasselback Potato and Ratatouille, this Hasselback Eggplant is a melt in your mouth flavored with the herbs and the vegetables of ratatouille. The baking in foil softens the eggplant and all the flavor meld into a delightful savory taste.

While I kept the dish vegan, if you like, sprinkle Parmesan on top. The dish reheats well—in fact, tastes better with each reheating. Recipe is below.

Foodie Lit

Review & Recipe

Four teenage girls confront hatred, corruptness, violence and death. Each girl exists within her identities. Caroline and her younger sister Dotty are white and Christian. Pearlie is black and Christian. And Anne Frank, a Jewish teenager during her years in hiding and in concentration camps, hovers at the edge, influencing the girls and the reader. Mr. Rabinowitz, Holocaust survivor and owner of "The Jew Store," the town’s conscience, is a support for the girls in this small Texas town in the 1950's.

All of the characters of Colors of Truth have seen or experienced hate and violence. Paula Paul’s depiction is well written with a depth and elegance of writing that draws the reader in with a surprising conclusion.

Hasselback Eggplant

Serves 3 as a main and 5 as a side

1 large eggplant, sliced lengthwise 5-6 times, leaving the top part intact to keep the eggplant together.

4-5 tablespoons of marinara sauce, homemade or commercial, divided

1 garlic clove, sliced paper thin

2-3 mushrooms, sliced very thinly

8 very thin slices of yellow squash or zucchini

2 kalamata or other olives of your choice, sliced thinly

1 teaspoon, chopped sun dried tomato

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Fresh basil, 5-6 leaves, sliced thinly

Thyme, leaves from 1-2 sprigs

Rosemary, a few leaves for each eggplant slice

Preheat oven to 400F.
Fan out the eggplant gently with your fingers.
Pour about 1 teaspoon marinara sauce onto each slice.
In between each slice, place slivers of garlic, mushrooms, squash, olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over each opening, using more as needed.
Place bits of the basil, thyme and rosemary onto each slice.
Drizzle the remainder of the marinara sauce over each slice and a bit on the top, using more if necessary.
Place aluminum foil at the bottom of a pan (I used a loaf pan). Place 1 tablespoon marinara sauce in bottom of pan and put eggplant gently on top. Wrap aluminum foil around eggplant, folding it over to cover completely.
Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before opening the foil.
Serve immediately or refrigerate. Warm in oven or microwave before serving.
Serve alone as a side or for a main course, over a grain such as rice, farro, quinoa or angel hair pasta.

Expandthetable suggestions

Add tomatoes: Add thin slices of tomatoes between each slice.

Make it cheesy: Add 1 teaspoon parmesan cheese on top of each slice before baking.