I once saw a poster that said something like “success is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.” I won’t argue with that, and I have developed a related equation: inspiration is 100% the product of failure. In other words, you can’t succeed unless you fail first. With that in mind, here’s one of my latest kitchen adventures. Perhaps it will inspire you.
I was in the store the other day and the eggplant caught my eye. I decided to make eggplant parmesan that night. I took the vegetable home, but before I left the store I picked up some ricotta and some fancy jar sauce. Also a bit of prosciutto, as I was in the mood to experiment.
At home, I decided to make some sort of eggplant parmesan/lasagna/napoleon. I wanted some extra flavor, and I didn’t have time to salt and drain the eggplant, so I decided to roast it under the broiler. I sliced it lengthwise, rubbed it with a bit of oil, and salted it lightly, before placing under the broiler until it looked like this:
After I roasted the eggplant, I layered stacks of eggplant, cheese, ham, basil, and sauce. Like this:
Until topped with a bit of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, it looked like this:
And then I baked it in the oven for about thirty minutes at 350 degrees, until it looked like this:
My mistake, as I learned later when I ate dinner, is that I didn’t roast the eggplant long enough. It didn’t taste right. None-the-less, the meal was tasty enough for me to try again. Next time, I will roast the eggplant longer. How might you improve this recipe?