Roasted Eggplant Spread

Friday night Frank and I went to one of our favorite restaurants Bistro 18. They serve this amazing eggplant spread, which got me thinking about our other favorite dining place Luce. So my idea for dinner while running 10 miles yesterday was how can I make an eggplant spread healthy and versatile. So here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

1 Eggplant

1 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 tsp of minced garlic

2-3 Celery Stalks, chopped

1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped

1 Yellow Pepper, chopped

2-4 squirts Tomato Paste, tubed or 1 canned

3 Plum Tomatoes, chopped

1 cup of Marinara sauce

2 squirts Pesto in a tube or 1 tsp jarred

Low Fat Mozzarella (whole cheese so you can grate it)

Dash Crushed Red Pepper flakes

Dash of Black Peppercorns

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Take your eggplant and shave only some of the skin so that it looks like a zebra. Slice your eggplant into cubes and place it on a sprayed baking dish. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes. In a skillet heat your olive oil and garlic and place in your celery. Stir till your celery starts to get soft, add your chopped peppers, tomato paste and chopped tomatoes. Remove your eggplant from the oven and add to the skillet, stir in your marinara, crushed red pepper flakes and peppercorns. Taste to see if the flavors have blended well, if so add the pesto stir and simmer for about 15 minutes. Right before you are ready to plate your spread take the mozzarella and grate as much as you like into the mixture, stir and transfer to a bowl.

Quick Tips:

This spread can be served as a side dish, add it to whole wheat pasta, make it and appetizer with crackers, or what I did was place it on top of grilled chicken breast. It taste even better the next day; you can get many different meals out of this one dish. So enjoy!