Eggplant Steaks With Pumpkin Tomato And Mushroom Ragoût Recipes

ITALIAN EGGPLANT RAGOUT

Steps:

• Scoop out center and seeds of eggplant halves. Cut eggplants into 3/4 inch dice. Toss with salt in bowl and let it stand for at least 20 minutes. Drain off the fluid that collects, rinse well, and pat dry.
• Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and saute until softened (about 5 minutes.) Add garlic, and cook 1 minute more, or until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, and eggplants. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 15 minutes, or until eggplants are tender but not mushy.
• Stir in capers and sugar, and cook 2 minutes more. Fold in parsley, and season with black pepper.

EGGPLANT STEAKS WITH PUMPKIN, TOMATO, AND MUSHROOM RAGOûT

Steps:

• Roast shallots, tomatoes, and pumpkin:
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Toss shallots and tomatoes with 3 tablespoons oil in a large roasting pan and season with salt. Roast until tomatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 25 minutes. Transfer tomatoes only to a large bowl.
• Add pumpkins with salt to taste to shallots, tossing to coat with oil in pan. Roast until pumpkins are just tender, about 30 minutes, then add vegetables to tomatoes.
• Reduce oven temperature to 200°F.
• Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners. Add water and 1/2 cup wine and deglaze by boiling over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up any brown bits. Reserve liquid.
• Cook soybeans while vegetables roast:
• Cook soybeans in boiling salted water until just tender, about 1 minute (3 minutes for lima beans), then drain. When cool enough to handle, shell soybeans, discarding pods.
• Prepare eggplant:
• Cut 2 (2-inch-thick) crosswise slices, or "steaks," from thickest part of each eggplant and season generously with salt and pepper. (Reserve remaining eggplant for another use.) Brown 3 eggplant steaks in 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, about 5 minutes on each side.
• Add 1/4 cup wine to skillet and simmer, covered, turning once, until eggplant is very tender and wine is absorbed, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a small roasting pan. (If wine is absorbed before eggplant is tender, add water, a few tablespoons at a time, and continue cooking until tender.) Repeat with remaining 3 eggplant steaks. Keep eggplant warm, uncovered, in oven.
• Make ragout:
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté mushrooms with garlic, rosemary, and salt to taste, stirring, until golden and any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Stir in reserved deglazing liquid and simmer until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Add roasted vegetables and soybeans and cook, stirring, until heated through. Stir in vinegar.
• Serve eggplant steaks topped with vegetable ragout.