"Aubergine" is British for "Eggplant"

Recently, I was just poking through the cheeses in the deli section of the grocery store (that's where they keep the fancy stuff, like imported Asiago or a family-owned diary's specialty chipotle cheddar, so it's more interesting than you might think), I came across Halloumi cheese.  It's a kind of Greek sheep's milk cheese; the label describes it as, "the grilling cheese of Cypress".  I got really excited, because I had seen it in one of our cookbooks, and wound up buying it.  I still haven't done anything with it, because I got distracted.  By eggplant.



Right now I'm focusing on vegetarian meals (although I'll also eat fish) because of Lent.  The problem with vegetarian food is that most of us are used to eating veggies as a salad, on the side as a not-so-exciting accompaniment, or in meat-based dishes (like my stir-fry).  So when I came across a recipe for Italian "Grilled Aubergine Parcels," I got excited.  Here was a new and different way to eat my veggies!  Basically, it's eggplant wrapped around cheese and tomatoes.  If you like those three things, keep reading.  

The recipe comes from Mediterranean: A Taste of the Sun in Over 150 Recipes, by Clark and Farrow (ISBN 9781843090151, if you're dying to know).  It's a pretty good cookbook, actually, featuring recipes from the entire region (from Turkey to France, including Morocco), so it appeals to a variety of tastes.  It's beautifully illustrated and each recipe is well-presented and easy to follow.  The only complaint I have is that it was written for a British audience.  There's nothing wrong with that, really, except you sometimes come across things that are confusing.  Like, what is gammon?  It's either hamsteak or bacon.  (Thank you, google.)

Aubergines are eggplants.  To make Aubergine parcels, you need 2 large, long eggplants, 2 tomatoes, 8 fresh basil leaves, and 8 oz. mozzarella.  Begin by thinly slicing the eggplants lengthwise into ~1/4 inch slices.  This is the tricky part.  If you have a mandolin (that's like a home version of a deli-slicer), you're golden and laughing at all of us who don't (guess which kitchen gadget I want).  If you don't, take a long, sharp knife and slice very carefully, paying attention to both ends of the blade to make sure 1) that you are cutting evenly, and 2) that you are not about to slice off your fingers (past experience).  Some people like to slice parallel to the board; this rarely works well for me.  I had the best luck standing the eggplant on its end (where I had chopped off the stem) and slicing down toward the board.  You want to wind up with 16 slices, not counting the edge slices with the skin-- that comes down to 10 slices per eggplant.  

Once you have successfully sliced your eggplant, toss the slices in salted, boiling water for a couple minutes until they are easily bent.  Let them drain on a rack, and/or blot them with paper towels.  

Remember those tomatoes?  Slice them into 8 slices.  Do that with the cheese, too, but try to make your cheese slices similar in size to the tomato slices.  To assemble your "parcels", take 2 slices of eggplant and arrange them  as a cross.  Season them with salt and pepper, and layer 1 tomato slice, 1 basil leaf, and 1 slice of mozzarella.  Season again, then fold the ends of the eggplant up around the stack to make a neat little bundle.  I had to use toothpicks to hold everything in place.

Place the parcels (there should be 8, if you haven't been following the math) in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.  When they are cool, brush them with Olive oil and grill them over direct heat for about 5 minutes a side.

A brief note about my family's preferred grill set-up.  We have a  propane-fired grill.  This allows us a little more temperature control.  The draw-back is that we don't get those wonderful flavors that come from charcoal.  To compensate, we almost always cook with wood chips on the rack next to the food.  The flame from our burners scorches the wood and causes it to smoke.  We close the top of the grill, and the smoke flavors are absorbed by the food.  For a recipe like this, the smoke-flavor isn't a big deal. For a steak or something that cooks longer, you notice it more.  A note of caution:  don't run out and grab the first wood chips you find.  You want to make sure they haven't been treated with chemicals that you really don't want to eat.  Look for wood chips in the grilling section of the store (we have applewood and hickory chips marketed by CharBroil) to make sure you're getting edible ones.

To top the aubergine parcels, combine 4 Tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp tomato paste, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice to make a dressing.  Vinaigrettes are that easy to make-- basically 4 parts oil for 1 part sour stuff.  You can get creative from there.  I used tomato paste that had some pesto seasoning (basil) in it to give the dressing a bit more pop.  Taste, adjust, and add salt or pepper if you think it is needed.

To go with the parcels, I had bought some bread.  When I wound up with a bunch of extra tomato and eggplant, I decided to make a Bruschetta.  Traditionally, bruschetta is grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper (doesn't that sound like a salad dressing?).  Most people (at least in the US) think of it as having tomatoes on top.  My variation had no garlic.  I just chopped up the leftover tomato and eggplant, spread it over the bread, added salt and pepper, and drizzled over olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  I stuck it under the broiler until the edges of the bread were browned.

I served both the parcels and the bruschetta topped with the vinaigrette and pine nuts.