Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Tart

I love eggplant. I love the rich color of the aubergine, the name deriving from a French word derived from Sanskrit.... I love the complex flavor that one can get from an eggplant after it's been degorged (or sweated) and it has soaked up all the sauce and oils.

Did you know, that the eggplant is technically a fruit, and botanically classified as a berry? The color fits, the rest- maybe not. But the eggplant stands out on it's own. The fruit is native to India and the surrounding regions, but is now cultivated in many countries, from Italy to America, Spain to China. Therefore, eggplant has made it's way into many different ethnic cuisines.

Health-wise, eggplants are suspected of lowering bad cholesterol- the studies have not yet been confirmed. However, we do know that they are high in folic acid and potassium :) Did I mention I love eggplants?

This tart has been adapted from 'Vegetarian Suppers' by Deborah Madison.

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Tart

Ingredients:

pie crust (recipe follows)

1 large eggplant

1 tbs fresh chopped basil, or two tbs of dried

3 tbs nicoise olives, chopped

2 eggs

1/2 cup light cooking cream

4 ounces crumbled feta cheese

2 cups of cherry or small tomatoes, halved

olive oil

salt and pepper

Pie Crust:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole grain flour

half cup cold butter chopped into cubes

1/2 tsp salt

ice water

1. Preheat the oven to 225C. Prick the eggplant with a fork and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the eggplant looks deflated.

2. While the eggplant is in the oven, prepare the pie crust: combine flour, salt and butter, either in a blender or with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Add just enough ice water (1-2 tbs) to pull this mixture together into a soft dough, then refrigerate for 10 minutes.

4. Roll out dough into a circle and form in a tart pan, refrigerate or freeze for another 10 minutes.

5. Once the eggplant has cooled, scoop or squeeze the flesh of the eggplant out of the skin shell and leave in a colander to drain excess liquid.

6. Mix and mash eggplant, feta, basil, salt and pepper, cream and eggs in a bowl.

7. Pour mixture into pie crust.

8. Cover mixture with tomatoes, cut side up.

9. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle additional basil if desired.

10. Bake at 225F for 30 minutes or until set.

Tips:

• If the crust you made comes higher in the tart shell than the mixture when baking, add some small strips of aluminum foil around the crust so that the crust doesn't brown or burn before the tart is finished cooking.
• Make sure to drizzle olive oil on top of tomatoes to avoid browning the tomatoes too much.
• Let tart set up to 15 minutes once out of the oven before enjoying. It will slice easier that way and be prettier too.
• Use different colored tomatoes for a nice finish. I used small yellow and red tomatoes.