June 16, 2015 Eggplant Parmesan on Spaghetti garnished with Scape Pesto, Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

June 16, 2015 Eggplant Parmesan on Spaghetti garnished with Scape Pesto, Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

Fruit and yogurt for breakfast

A salad with greens from the garden for lunch

For dinner we were both tired but after a nap and a drink and a talk with Willy about his new story being published in the Dublin Enquirer, we were ready to fix dinner.  Suzette suggested Eggplant Parmesan on PPI spaghetti, I had bought cluster tomatoes at Sprouts and I sliced those and we put a slice of tomato on each slice of eggplant that had been dipped in an egg wash and then bread crumbs and fried in canola oil, Suzette then sprinkled feta cheese over each slice of eggplant and baked the dish in the oven until the eggplant cooked.

I fetched a bottle of Leonello Marchesi Castello di Monastero 2010 Chianti Superiore for its lightness and clean taste.  I bought 2 cases from Connie at Quarters two years ago on a close out at $4.99/bottle and have enjoyed the wine ever since.  

I prepared and we steamed about fifteen thin asparagus (Ranch Market $2.99/lb.) bought last week.   

Remember that Ranch Market has vegetable and fruit specials on Wednesday and Thursday.

When the eggplant was cooked, we heated the spaghetti in the microwave and steamed the asparagus and were ready to eat.

We chose to not use a prepared spaghetti sauce because we wanted a lighter dish without any gooeyness, but we found that the olive oil in the pesto was not sufficient to emulsify the dish and that it needed more olive oil and salt to accent and combine the flavors.  We used the lovely Sleman’s Virgin olive oil from Chile that Ed and Michel gave us several years ago and it created a fabulous flavor.  The wonderfulness of this dinner was that by simplifying the ingredients and flavors and using just a little olive oil and salt, we were able to create an very sophisticated and delicious dish that accented the ingredient’s unique flavors and avoided the awful gooey mess created by flooding the dish with a bunch of spaghetti sauce.

It met our intention of keeping the dish light and emphasizing the vegetarian aspects of the dinner.

It was still warm when we took our plates to the table in the garden, so we chilled our wine with a couple of cubes of ice.

I ate a bowl of spumoni ice cream with a bit of lemon curd on it later and watched Golden State win the NBA Finals.

Bon Appétit