Pasta alla Norma from Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi

Last week I was stuck indoors with a virus that after going to the doctor I was told, had to run it's course and just to rest. I feel like I went slightly mad being stuck inside all day, waiting to feel better. Waiting to snap out of it.

Cooking dinner for myself helped. On Monday I felt so rotten I couldn't get off the couch so ordered Thai take away for one. Tuesday I escaped the house for dinner and had Chicken Curry at Kate's (sooo good!), Wednesday I made a one-pot mac and cheese from Hetty McKinnon's cookbook Family. That was the easiest and probably the tastiest mac and cheese I've ever made. It had sweet potato smooshed in it and I didn't have 100 pans to wash up after! I'll have to share the recipe for that when I make it again next time and can snap a photo or two. Thursday my fruit and veg box arrived which had a lovely eggplant in it just waiting for me to douse it in olive oil and add it to a pasta. Which I did and it was insanely good. Friday I made a vegetable curry of sorts... it was strange but it was comforting which was all I wanted.

eggplant parmigiana from The Dinner Ladies

For the past two weeks I've been cooking for one, or should I say cooking for six and eating the same thing all week while still filling my freezer. I've also eaten a lot of random rice bowls. Not the lovely vibrants looking ones which are all over instagram where these amazingly organised people keep dressings and sauces and roasted vegetables just lying around ready to make a rice bowl on demand. The kind of rice bowls I've been eating start with those 90 second rice packets, a hard boiled egg, a can of tuna and a random mix of anything else leftover from the previous nights dinner or a can of beans on top. And let me tell you they are not instagram worthy at all... I sit watching trashy tv after night school and am so hungry that I could eat anything which is why I can stomach my random rice bowls which lack flavour and texture but do a great job at filling a hole.

So when the lovely cookbook The Dinner Ladies by Katherine Westwood and Sophie Gilliatt arrived in the mail I was only too happy to start cooking from it. I mean it promised to fill my freezer and it is all about doing the prep work in advance and enjoying midweek dinners rather then being the headless chook most of us are when trying to complete these trendy 15 minute meals. The only catch is you need to be organised and prepared. Something I am somewhat good at and others times I envy everyone who manages to look like they have their stuff together.

Flicking through this book the are pages full of feasts just waiting for a family to dig in like twice cooked master-stock pork belly, three-bean chilli, lasagne, sausage rolls and also lighter dishes for the warmer nights like sesame prawn stir fry. The book comes with all the tricks to make feasts happen without the stress. It shows you it possible to eat a delicious, substantial dinner (that isn't a dodgy rice bowl) midweek. A couple of these cook ups in the freezer and my weeknight dinner disaster is sorted.

The recipe I chose to make first from this book was the eggplant parmigiana. I'm not the biggest meat eater when I cook for one and I LOVE eggplant and tomatoes and mozzarella so this was a perfect option. The fragrant bunch of basil in the local greengrocer also caught my eye or should I say nose as the smell was incredible. Summer is coming!!

It's starts with thickly slicing the eggplants and roasting them in a hot oven with salt and olive oil while you cook your basic tomato sauce. Once they are both done it is time to start assembling. If you are making it ahead, wait until everything is cooled before assembling but if you are going to cook it straight away start assembling the roasted eggplant and the tomato sauce with generous amounts of fresh basil, fresh mozzarella and grated parmesan cheese making sure you end with a cheese layer on top. Bake it in the oven until cooked though and bubbling at the sides. The recipe suggests to serve it with a green salad but I couldn't help but add some buttered pasta to mine too... I'm a carb lover what can I say.

The eggplant parmigiana from The Dinner Ladies will definitely start becoming a regular midweek dinner for me. Especially if I can make it over the weekend then just bung it in the oven midweek and dinner is done. So easy, so delicious and I think it's going to make the BEST filled baguettes for lunch the next day too. YUM.

The Dinner Ladies by Katherine Westwood & Sophie Gilliatt is published by Murdoch Books, September 2016 (RRP $39.99)

eggplant parmigiana

recipe adapted ever so slightly
from The Dinner Ladies by Katherine Westwood and Sophie Gilliatt
serves 4-6 as a side dish or 2-3 as a main

2 medium eggplants, about 1.25kg
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium brown onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
3 thyme sprigs, leaves stripped (I used a pinch of dried thyme)
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 very large handful basil leaves
150g fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced or torn roughly
50g parmesan cheese, grated

Make ahead: The whole dish can be assembled up to 3 days ahead and stored, covered, in the fridge. Bake it on the day you mean to serve it and serve warm or allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

- Line two baking trays with baking paper. Cut the eggplants into slices about 1.5cm thick, sprinkle with salt, lay them on the baking trays and brush with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and soft. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. If not making ahead, leave the oven on.

- Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat the remaining olive oil over medium-low heat and cook the onion and garlic with a pinch of salt for about 10-15 minutes until soft and sweet, stirring occasionally. When completely soft, add the tinned tomatoes, thyme and a splash of water and continue to cook gently, partially covered, for about 20 minutes. Add the vinegar and taste for seasoning - you may need to add a pinch of salt and/or sugar if the tomatoes are particularly sharp. Set aside to cook.

- Now to start the assembly. In an oven proof dish, place a layer of eggplant on the bottom. Top with one-third of the tomato sauce, then half of the basil, a third of the mozzarella and a sprinkling of parmesan. Repeat until you have three layers of eggplant, finishing with mozzarella and an extra snowing of parmesan on top.

- Place in the centre of your oven for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling at the sides. Serve warm or at room temperature with a mixed leaf salad and/or some buttered pasta and/or a crusty baguette.

eggplant, mint & yoghurt dip from Feast by Nigella Lawson.

Over the long weekend I had grand cooking plans. I was going to make donut holes from Emiko Davies new book Florentine and also banana bread from The Violets Bakery Cookbook but those plans fell through when I pull out my full container of flour and I had friends show up. Unwanted friends. Weevils. They gave me the heebie-geebies. I didn't inspect the moving critters for long. I ran the plastic container to the garbage bin as fast as I could and closed my cookbooks with a heavy sign and a shiver. Isn't baking what your meant to do on a long weekend? Fill your tummies full of delicious baked goods?? Scared with what else might be lurking in the other flours I decided that with the creepy-crawly feeling on my skin, I'd leave the baking for next weekend and make dip instead. We were going to a welcome home drinks so nibbles were appropriate, although I am sure they would have welcomed donut holes just as much.

I decided to make the eggplant, mint and yoghurt dip from Nigella Lawson's Feast, I've made this a few times now over the years and it's always a winner. Feast was also one of the first cookbooks I ever bought myself and is full of splattered pages and bookmarked recipes, as a good cookbook should be.

I roasted the eggplants until tender but blackened on the outside and picked some 'mint gone wild' from our little balcony then slowly fried an onion and lots of garlic in olive oil until soft. It's a perfect recipe to potter around the kitchen and whip together something like say banana bread while you wait for everything to cool...

The dip is comforting yet fresh and best served with some crostini or toasted pita bread but I didn't have either so served it with crackers (which Tristan ended up leaving on the kitchen counter) and carrot sticks to counteract the chocolates we've all eaten.

Can't say my craving to bake has been satisfied or my craving to eat home-made sweet treats but my jeans are certainly happier not having to fit in a donut or two after everything else I consumed over the weekend.

Fingers crossed my baking ideas this weekend go to plan.

eggplant, mint & yoghurt dip

recipe adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson

2 medium to small eggplants
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
pinch saffron threads
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
3/4 cup thick greek yoghurt
2 tablespoons pinenuts, toasted
salt and pepper

- Preheat your oven to 220C/400F and prick the eggplants with a fork all over.

- Place on a tray and roast for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the insides have a soft squishy texture and the skin slightly darkened. Let them cool enough to handle, the scoop the insides out into a sieve to drain.

- While the eggplant flesh is draining, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over low heat and fry the onion and garlic until soft and almost golden, about 10 minutes. Add the eggplant flesh to the onions and cook for about 4 minutes, breaking up any bits that need it. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper and allow to cool completely.

- Soak the saffron threads into 2 tablespoons of just boiled water and let sit so the water turns a vibrant yellow orange colour.

- Once the eggplant is cooled, mix in the greek yoghurt, saffron water, one tablespoon chopped fresh mint and another good pinch of salt and pepper.

- To serve, sprinkle over the remaining fresh mint, pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil.

Comfort food for cold toes. Saffron risotto with silky baked eggplant and thyme mushrooms.

I came home on Thursday night from work with a brain that felt fried and an appetite for home-cooked comfort food. I watched a storm roll in from our bedroom window that turned the skies black in almost an instant, waiting in hope for the fireworks of lightening to start. I love a good storm. The blinds were swaying from the welcoming breeze and my toes were freezing. Arthur however, couldn't decide if he wanted to catch the blind cord which was knocking against the window edge or start biting my ankles for dinner. Yes my cat bites my ankles if I don't feed him quick enough, it's a serious case of hanger. Must take after his mother.

With a crisper full of veggies for more then two people can possible eat before the next weekly veggie box delivery and a brain that can't think past the saffron risotto my parents made, I knew that sitting and watching the storm was not going to get me dinner. I was thinking baked eggplant (like this), saffron risotto that I used to eat growing up (I called it yellow rice) and thyme and garlic mushrooms that always went will the yellow rice.

After I fed Arthur his nibbles to save my ankles I roughly halved and quartered a bag of button mushrooms and threw them in a lined baking tray along with a huge clove of roughly chopped garlic, some fresh thyme leaves that have been floating around the fridge for a couple of weeks but are surprisingly still green and a generous grinding of salt and pepper. I halved a medium sized eggplant and rubbed the cut side with a mixture of olive oil, garlic, chilli, lemon zest, salt and pepper and placed it cut side down on the baking tray nestled in between the mushrooms. Bunged it all in a preheated (180C) oven and forgot about it for 30 minutes while I cooked the saffron risotto.

I feel I'm in good hands when a recipe starts with cooking onion and garlic until it's soft and fragrant, I don't know what it is about the smell but it promises a good meal and gets the hunger rolling (if it hasn't already started). I can have just started cooking dinner and only have the garlic and onion cooking in a pan when Tristan walks in saying 'Yes! it's out apartment that the smell is coming from!' then proceeded to snack on whatever is edible on the chopping board as swipe his hand out of the way.

This risotto starts with finely diced onion, celery and a clove of crushed garlic sweated down in some olive oil until translucent and shiny. I then add the rice and cook for a minute or so until I hear a sizzle then pour two generous glasses of white wine, one for the pot and one for me. Once the wine cooked away I gradually added in the stock and a teaspoon of veggie stock powder (I know, don't turn your noses up. It won't taste like the one from my childhood if I leave this step out - stock cubes were the only stock I knew growing up) stirring pretty much the whole time. In a small ramekin I soaked a pinch of saffron threads in some freshly boiled water from the kettle and let it sit for about 10 minutes until it becomes a vibrant yellow. The saffron water went into the rice, tasted, seasoned then turned the heat off. Added a couple of knobs of butter, a large handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese and let sit for about 5 minutes with the lid on so it went all oozing, buttery and delicious.

Everything came together at about the same time. The eggplant was a revelation. It had turned silky and just melted away from its skin when scooped out and it had soaked up all the flavours of the garlic, chilli, olive oil and lemon zest perfectly. The mushrooms were better baked then pan-fried like I normally do them, it was like their flavours intensified and they were more mushroomy if that makes sense. I served the scooped eggplant flesh along side the baked mushrooms and saffron risotto, a perfect meal when craving comfort food with cold toes.

To my disappointment the storm passed with not a single drop of rain over head or a flash of lightening, as quick as it came, it went.

Saffron risotto with silky baked eggplant and thyme mushrooms.

serves 3

For the mushrooms:

300g button mushrooms, halved or quartered

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt & pepper

For the eggplant:

1 medium eggplant, halved lengthways

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes

salt & pepper

sprinkling of lemon zest

For the risotto:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium-small onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 stick celery, finely diced

1.5 cups arborio rice
1 regular wine glass of white wine

1 litre chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon veggie stock power (or stock cube)

pinch saffron threads 

salt & pepper

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons butter

- Preheat your oven to 180C.

For the mushrooms:
- Toss all ingredients together and scatter into a lined baking tray large enough to fit the eggplant in as well.

For the eggplant:
- In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, garlic, chilli and a generous grinding of salt and pepper.

- Rub this all over the cut side of the eggplant and a sprinkling of lemon zest as well. The eggplant will soak up the olive oil which is what will make it go silky as it cooks. Place cut side down in the same baking tray you put the mushrooms and place in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, for the risotto:
- In a medium sized pot, heat olive oil over a moderate to low flame and fry the onion, garlic, celery and 1/2 teaspoons fine table salt for about 5-8 minutes, until the onions are translucent but haven't coloured.

- Meanwhile, soak you saffron threads in about 1/3 cup of freshly boiled water and set aside for about 10 minutes or until the water becomes a vibrant yellow then add it to your rice.

- Next add your rice to the onions and garlic, stirring constantly until it you hear a sizzle, about a min or two. Then pour in your wine, once that had been all soaked up add 1/2 cup of stock and stock powder, give it a good stir then let the rice soak up all the liquid before adding another 1/2 cup of stock. Keep adding the stock like this on a low simmer, stirring after each addition until all the stock has been added. If you haven't added your saffron threads and water, add them now and give it a good stir so the yellow colour goes through the whole dish.

- Taste and check the rice still has a tiny bite left in it. You don't want a soggy mess, you want the rice to hold its shape and still have a tiny dot of white in each grain when bitten in half. Season with extra salt if you think it needs it then turn the heat off and add 3/4 of you parmesan cheese and the butter. Stir it through then clamp on a lid and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

- Everything should have come together roughly about he same time. If your eggplant and mushrooms are done a little earlier then turn the oven off and let them hangout there. Scoop out the eggplant flesh and serve along side the mushrooms and saffron risotto. A sprinkle of cracked black pepper and some more parmesan cheese on top and you're ready to dig in.

'Let my eggplant go free!' with spaghetti from Food52's Genius Recipes cookbook.

If you remember my post from 2 weeks ago about my struggle and failure to cook for one and you decide to keep reading this, you'll find out I still haven't mastered it. BUT what I have done is found a delicious pasta sauce recipe with a rich eggplant and sun-dried tomato sauce which a pretty funky name... 'Let my Eggplant go free'. Yep that the name of the recipe.

While Tristan was away this time I made a conscious decision to not let me self get into a frump about cooking for one. However I made enough dinner to feed about 4 people but only me to eat it. It meant lunches for the next couple of days so I wasn't complaining and it also meant I got to pig out on a huge bowl of spaghetti while watching 'Married at First Sight'.

This recipe has been around for a few years now but it's been recently re-published in the Food52 Genius Recipes cookbook by Kristen Miglore. It is another recipe I first saw on Luisa's blog The Wednesday Chef and then put two and two together while flicking through the cookbook, it's not like you come across a recipe name like that every day. So when I saw it on her blog and in Food52's book I just had to make it.

I'm not sure mushed the eggplant enough as mine looked a little different. I also didn't have dried tomatoes or basil so I used sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and parsley since our parsley plant has gone bonkers. I've been putting parsley in everything lately... a bit of neglect and tough love and it's thriving!

First I started off salting the eggplant slices which is something most recipes tell you to do when cooking eggplant but I've always skipped this step and never done it. I did however do it this time. I salted my eggplant then jumped in the shower and by the time I was out and dressed again it has been about 20 minutes and the chopping board was full of water. So there is a purpose to this madness of salting. Next I diced it and through it in to the pan with what looked like a huge amount of extra virgin oil but within seconds all the oil was soaked up and the cubes of eggplant looks like they were dry frying.

Sometimes I don't understand the next step in a recipe if I haven't made it before until I see it happening. I have to trust the recipe which can be daunting to see what happens. Fry the eggplant until translucent huh? but it's eggplant. After not too long I knew what the recipe meant... sometimes you have to have faith but I have had experiences where I have screamed at books doing exactly what it said and ended up with a lumpy burnt mess. So it's a little hit and miss making something for the first time but theres nothing like a little adventure in the kitchen!

After adding some water to the eggplant and letting it simmer away until there was almost no liquid left I mushed it up using a potato masher and the back of a spoon, added the parsley and sun-dried tomatoes. I served it with a pretty decent serving of parmesan I sat down to some trashy tv and a huge bowl of pasta on the couch while the cat snored next to me.

This sauce is rich without looking rich. When you start fill your fork with a huge mouthful of spaghetti and try and get a bit of everything on it, all the extra virgin olive oil you put in the pan first is still there in the silky eggplant sauce and coats your lips like a good lip gloss. The herbs thrown in at the end give it a really fresh vibe which I think it needs, maybe even a squirt of lemon juice on top next time. It's not the prettiest but its definitely a winner if you love eggplant, just keep in mind this serves 4 people not 1 person alone with their cat.

'let my eggplant go free!' with spaghetti

Recipe by Francis Lam from Food52's Genius Recipes cookbook. - with my variations below.

Serves 4

450g eggplant, cut into ½ inch slices
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
2 springs thyme or oregano, chopped - I used 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 cup chicken stock or water
2 tablespoons sun-dried or oven-dried tomatoes, minced - I used ones which were kept in olive oil
6 leaves basil, sliced thinly - I used a handful of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
450g spaghetti

- Lightly salt the slices of eggplant and stack them back together. Let sit for about 20 minutes or so.

- Put the olive oil in a heavy saucepan, add the garlic cloves, and set over low heat. 

- Dry off the eggplant, cut it into chunks. When you start hearing the garlic sizzle a little and can smell it, drop in your eggplant and stir to coat it all with oil (this is where your oil will look like it has disappeared). Turn up the heat a little bit to medium high and add the thyme or oregano and stir. 

- Cook until the eggplant started to turn translucent and softens. Add the water/stock and let it come to a boil then turn it back down to medium-low. Let it bubble for a bit and cover it, leaving a crack for steam to escape. Stir once in a while so that the bottom doesn’t stick. If it does start to stick add a splash more water/stock.

- After about 20 minutes or so, the liquid in the eggplant pan should be mostly evaporated and the eggplant should be soft and melting. Mash it with a fork or spoon (I used a potato masher), and adjust the seasoning to taste.

- Meanwhile get the water on a boil for your pasta and cook the spaghetti until al dente. Make sure your spaghetti doesn't sit around waiting for you sauce to cook so try and time it according to the packet instructions to give you an idea of when to put it in the boiling water but always taste to check when cooked.

5. Toss the eggplant mush with the al dente spaghetti. Stir in the minced tomatoes and basil (or parsley). Drizzle with a little more olive oil if you dare and serve with some finely grated parmesan cheese and extra cracked pepper.

Eggplant and Porcini meatless 'meatballs' with tomato sauce.

The recipe I made last Tuesday is probably the evil twin sister of the previous recipe I posted. Lets just say there is more to it than throw it all together and bung it in the oven. This one is a labor of love.

Sometimes I really enjoy pottering around in the kitchen. Stirring a sauce here, doing a little frying there, while something is cooking away in the oven. It's like when you cook risotto, there is always pottering around the kitchen. A little stirring then another ladleful of stock and maybe roasting some vine tomatoes or making a pesto to stir through.

It's a labor of love.

Now it's not to say I haven't had some disasters over the years when I think it's all going to plan but end up eating at 10:30 (one time 11...eeekk) at night and being so sweaty and past hungry I feel like a train wreck. Not to mention the kitchen looks even more like a train wreck than I do. I have found the trick is not to get flustered. Yeh yeh easier said than done but if I keep my cool and just potter it's usually quite satisfying, a tastier dinner and I don't end up feeling like a train wreck at the end.

These Eggplant and Porcini meatless 'meatballs' with tomato sauce were such a success and an absolutely delicious one at that! They are definitely a labor of love and not a quick mid week meal but in saying that if you get home from work earlier then I do why not spoil yourself during the week and put in a little extra effort?

I got the recipe from blogger Amelia Morris from Bon Appetempt who found it in a magazine called Food and Wine. It's actually the first post I read from her blog. The link was part of The Wednesday Chef's Saturday links post back in October last year and I've been a huge fan ever since (I even went back and read most of her old blog posts...). If your a regular reader you've probably heard of me going on about her blog and her cooking show on youtube so I'll stop my ramble and just link everything here (you really should check her out!).

This dinner was actually incredible. I am still thinking about them a week later and not only did I thoroughly enjoy myself pottering around the kitchen and rolling garlicky eggplant balls but the taste was incredible. You get the robust flavours from the dried porcini mushrooms and garlic that work so well with the silky eggplant. Oh and the tomato sauce uses the porcini soaking water in it which turns it into a turbo tomato sauce that is packed with flavour. I loved this recipe and will be making it again for sure! I served it with crusty bread but it would work perfect with pasta too or even polenta.

The eggplant and porcini balls are just as delicious without the tomato sauce (I snacked on a couple while cooking them) and they would be a great appetiser or cold the next day on a sandwich is good too :)

Show a little labor of love this week or weekend and cook these for dinner... it's well worth it!

Eggplant and porcini meatless 'meatballs' with tomato sauce.

Serves 4
(Recipe from Food & Wine and Bon Appetempt)
Please note I have converted the recipe into metric measurements so they vary slightly from the original.

1 large eggplant or 2 smaller ones (about 560g)
28g dried porcini mushrooms (I used 20g) **
boiling water
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, minced
4  cloves garlic, finely grated
2x 800g cans of whole italian tomatoes, seeded and pureed with their juices (I used 2 bottles of passata)
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil leaves, plus extra leaves for garnish
salt
freshly ground pepper
3 cups of fresh bread crumbs (from 170g crustless country bread)
2 large eggs, beaten
60g pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated, plus more for serving (I used parmesan)
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
plain flour, for coating
vegetable oil, for frying
crusty bread, for serving

- Preheat your oven to 350F or 180C.

- Prick your eggplant(s) all over with a fork and place on a baking tray. Roast in the centre of the oven for 1 hour, until very soft and collapsed. Let the eggplant cool slightly, then scrape the eggplant flesh into a bowl and let cool completely. Discard the skin (I was impatient so I stuck my hot eggplant flesh in the freezer for 15 min to cool down).

- Meanwhile, in a heatproof bowl, cover the porcini with 1.5 cups of boiling water and let stand until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain but reserve the soaking liquid. Rinse the porcini to remove any grit and extra dirt then finely chop the porcini.

- In a large casserole pot heat olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and half the garlic and cook on medium heat, stirring, until softened for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree (or passata) and pour in the porcini soak liquid but stopping before reaching the grit at the bottom of the bowl. Bring it to a boil and then simmer on low heat until thickened, about 1 hour. Add half the chopped basil and season with salt and pepper.

- In a medium sized bowl mix together the chopped porcini, bread crumbs, eggs, cheese, parsley, remaining garlic, eggplant flesh with 1 teaspoon of course salt and 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.

- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Form the eggplant mixture into 20 balls (about 1 3/4 inches), rolling tightly. Dust the balls with plain flour and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

- In a non stick frying pan heat 1 cm deep of vegetable oil. Add half of the eggplant balls at a time and cook over medium to high heat, turning occasionally, until browned all over, about 8 minutes. Drain on paper towel. Add the eggplant balls to the tomato sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish the meatballs with basil leaves and serve with extra grated cheese and crusty bread.

** I got the dried porcini mushrooms from Essential Ingredient online.

Donna Hay's chilli and eggplant pasta with parsley pesto

I wish I could say that I've been on a extended overseas trip or spend the past few weeks lazying on the beach or even come up with the next greatest invention.

But no.

I have felt unmotivated and not very hungry to cook and thats the utter truth. I'm sorry if my thousands of readers have missed my not so regular posts but I can only try and promise I will get better at posting but who knows?! maybe I will go on an exotic holiday somewhere far far away with no internet and then I actually have a real excuse! The only exotic things I'll be eating is what I cook up for myself in my little blue and white kitchen.

But on a more festive note... Who's excited for Christmas???? I am!!! Has anyone started Christmas baking or soaking fruit or even made their Christmas pudding or cake? I always wish we had a white Christmas where we got to all snuggle up in front of a fire and have warm roast lunches and play board games and drink hot chocolate and tea all day (or mulled wine). I guess if Christmas day was meant to be cold and not so nice weather it's great to plan a day inside or have snow fights outside but here in Australia Christmas days normally rain and it's muggy. Where is the lovely hot summers days we get in January?? maybe we should post-pone Christmas until January when the weather is more of a dry heat and not muggy and humid..hmmm. I guess ice cold summery cocktails by the pool, eating fresh seafood isn't really anything I should complain about hey?! Fingers crossed for sunshine this year!

Anywhooo... back on the blog posting front. The other say I made the chilli and eggplant pasta with parsley pesto from the new Donna Hay CHRISTMAS issue. (I'm such a fiend for Christmas magazines... gotta catch them all!) Super yummy and very easy! I adapted the recipe to feed two people but you could easily double or triple this for more people and it's a great new way of cooking eggplant. I'd never done it like this before but will defiantly do this again. It's go great with steak on the BBQ too!

First I cut the eggplant in half and then make a garlic, herby, chilli oil and brushed the cut side of the eggplant with the oil and baked it for about 20 minutes (the recipe says 15 but I'm finally getting to know my oven and everything normally takes a little longer than expected). Then I added some cherry tomatoes and baked it for a further 10 minutes (again the recipe says 5 minutes not 10). I then checked to see if the eggplant was cooked by poking it with a sharp pointed knife and if it went in and out easily... done! while the eggplant was cooking in the oven I made a sort of parsley pesto and cooked my pasta for about 10 minutes (or until al dente). Once the eggplant was ready and the pasta was cooked I tossed the pesto through the pasta and served up half an eggplant and some roasted tomatoes on the plate along with the pesto pasta. I was a little unsure about how this would all taste but BY GOLLY it was good! I didn't quite nail the presentation of this dish but the taste of of made up for it... really YUM! and easy too which is alway a bonus :)

Chilli and eggplant pasta with parsley pesto.

recipe adapted from Donna Hay magazine issue 78.

serves 2

1 clove of garlic, crushed

pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon grated lemon zest

1 medium sized eggplant, cut in half

200g cherry tomatoes
250g linguine (any pasta is good)
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

- Preheat oven to 200C or 400F.

- Combine crushed garlic, salt, pepper, chilli, lemon zest and only 2 tablespoons (40ml) of the olive oil in a small bowl. Rub or brush this mixture all over the cut side of the eggplant halves.

- Place the eggplant, cut side down on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 20 minutes.
(I always scrunch my baking paper under running water before so it's easier to fit in the tray and it also reduces the corners of the paper burning - Jamie Oliver tip)

- Meanwhile while the eggplant is in the oven baking make your pesto. Place parsley, mint, parmesan, remainder of the olive oil and lemon juice in a small food processor or mortar and pestle and process or smash until it becomes a sort of paste or the herbs are finely chopped.

- After the 20 minutes of baking add the cherry tomatoes to the tray and bake for a further 10 minutes.

- Cook your pasta for 8-10 minutes or until it is al dente then toss the hot pasta and pesto together.

- Serve all together and enjoy (the eggplant is super yummy scooped out and tossed through the pasta).