Stuffed Shells w/ Fresh Tomato Sauce and Fire Roasted Eggplant Curry

The first few of the season peeking through the foliage.

Meal 1: Roasted Eggplant and Ricotta Stuffed Shells with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Semolina Loaves, Spicy Greens Mix
• Warm the shells in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling.
  • Warm the bread and dress the salad.


Meal 2: Baingan Bartha, Potato and Yellow Split Pea Curry, Yellow Rice and Kidney Bean Biryani
• Heat the curries separately on the stovetop.
• Heat the rice in a sauté pan with a little oil and a splash of water.

Menu Notes

Baingan bartha is a curry of fire roasted eggplant. After picking over 100 eggplant at the Tree Farm for use in this menu and the frozen food menu I took a portion of them and simply charred them over open burners. I then remove the charred skin under running water revealing smooth, white, cooked eggplant flesh infused with a smoky flavor. I added some oven roasted tomatoes to the curry too – some of the first of the season- for more flavor.
I’m sure some of you have been wondering where the tomatoes are at. Hopefully you realize that this is a cool summer and therefore a late tomato year. This week of heat should help the process nicely. Nonetheless I was able to get some nice plum toms from our neighborhood Brookside Gardens here in Mazomanie, as well as a few from our own garden. The resulting sauce is a fine fresh compliment to those pasta shells stuffed with more Tree Farm eggplant and some ricotta from Wisconsin cheese maker BelGioioso. Ricotta is one of those simple foods that when done well is so good and when done mediocre, as is commonly found in most grocers, is absolute ( in the culinary vernacular ) merde. Check out BG’s product. It’s very good and fairly priced at $4/#.
Lets see, what else. More onions from Marlene Platt, garlic from the Mayer’s at the market. Beautiful Tree Farm Yukon Golds in the potato curry and Spicy Salad Mix from Harmony Valley. Enjoy!