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Grilled Eggplant Risotto
 
recipe image
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 45 Minutes
Ready In: 65 Minutes
Servings: 6
Serve with cherry-rich red: 2006 Chateau de La Chaize Brouilly. A healthy & vegetarian dish. For this super simple risotto, Chef Jonathan Justus, grills eggplant until smoky and charred & then blends the creamy flesh into the cooked rice. Just before serving he sprinkles on sumac, a tart Middle Easten spice made from the dried berry. Chef Jonathan Justus opened his Smithville, Missouri restaurant in his family's former drugstore last year (hence its name, James Drugstore). From F&W Magazine, 08/2008 - from Green Living Guide, Local Flavors.
Ingredients:
1 (1 1/2 lb) eggplants
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or 1 tablespoon unsalted margarine
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 cups arborio rice (10 ounces)
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups hot vegetable stock or 3 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt, to taste
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 -2 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
2 scallions, thinly sliced
ground sumac
Directions:
1. Light a grill.
2. Rub the eggplant with 1/2 tablespoon of the oil and grill over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until charred and soft, 20 minutes; let cool slightly.
3. Halve the eggplant lengthwise and scoop the pulp into a blender; puree until creamy.
4. In a large saucepan, melt the butter in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil.
5. Add the onion, shallot, garlic and rice and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, 5 minutes.
6. Add the wine and cook until it is absorbed.
7. Add the vegetable stock with crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 cup at a time; stir constantly until it is absorbed before adding more.
8. Cook until the rice is al dente, 20 minutes total.
9. Stir in the eggplant puree and the cream and season with salt and pepper.
10. Stir in the parsley and scallions.
11. Spoon the risotto into bowls, sprinkle with sumac and serve.
By RecipeOfHealth.com