EGGPLANT PARMESAN WITH FRESH CHEVRE AND BASIL:

While I rarely eat cheese, my own fresh chevre (goat's cheese) is absolutely delectible in this recipe. It's pretty enough for festive dinners. It calls for a fig/balsamic sauce which you can purchase from Bosa Fine Foods in Vancouver, or substitute a balsamic reduction of your choice.

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants
• 300 g chevre
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 12 leaves basil
• grated parmesan cheese (1/4 cup)
• Basalmic Fig Sauce (optiona)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to broil eggplant. Wash and cut eggplant lengthwise in slabs 3/4” thick. (optional: brush with olive oil). Place under broiler (set low, not high) and broil for 10-12 minutes each side until golden brown (or darker for a smoky flavour, but not burnt ;o). Remove from oven and spread out on a baking sheet. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Cut chevre into rounds 1/4” thick and spread out over the eggplant. Next pour the tomato sauce over the chevre (I pre-made a simple sauce with one sauteed onion and a can of crushed tomatoes, but you can also use prepared tomato or pasta sauce). Wash, drain and spread basil leaves over the eggplant. Finally, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Optional: drizzle with Basalmic Fig syrup (incredible stuff from Bosa Fine Foods!) Bake at 350 degrees F for about a half hour. Photos show the eggplant ready to go into the oven, and the final version on the plate. You'll see that we served it with baked garlic!

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