Crostini With Eggplant And Pine Nut Purée Recipes

CROSTINI WITH EGGPLANT AND PINE NUT PURéE

Steps:

• Heat broiler. Peel, and trim eggplant, and slice into rounds about 1/2 inch thick. Lightly brush both sides of each slice with oil, arrange on a sheet pan, and broil about 6 inches from heat until golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Turn, and brown the second side. Remove from broiler, and stack slices so they steam to finish cooking.
• Toast pine nuts in a small skillet over low heat, shaking often, until golden. Cool. Using a large mortar and pestle, grind pine nuts with garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth. Coarsely chop eggplant, add to mixture, and work into a somewhat rough purée with the pestle or in a food processor. Add a little lemon juice to sharpen the flavor. Taste for salt; add more if needed, and season with pepper. Stir in herbs. Spread on baguette slices or crackers, and garnish with a basil leaf.

GORGONZOLA, GRAPE AND PINE NUT CROSTINI

Steps:

• 1. Preheat broiler and adjust rack so that it is about 4 inches from heat source.
• 2. Beat together cream cheese, mayonnaise, gorgonzola cheese and green onions; season with salt and pepper. Fold in grapes and pine nuts.
• 3. Spread a tablespoon of cheese mixture on each baguette slice.
• 4. Broil until heated and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Serve immediately.
• *To toast pine nuts: Put pine nuts on baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350 degrees F. until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.

CROSTINI WITH GARDEN PUREE AND PARMIGIANO

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the peas, asparagus, and green beans and cook until bright green and crisp tender, about 3 minutes. (If you're using frozen peas, you can throw them in during the last couple of minutes, to thaw.) Drain, transfer to a bowl of salted ice water to stop the cooking, and drain again. Puree the vegetables in a food processor with the ricotta, green onion greens, a drizzle of oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Brush the bread slices on 1 side with olive oil and put them, oiled sides up, on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned and crisp, about 10 minutes.
• To serve, spread the puree on the warm croutons, and top with shaved Parmigiano (shave with a vegetable peeler). Serve immediately.

PENNE WITH EGGPLANT PUREE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degree F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, combine the eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, 3 TBSP olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Spread the veggies on the baking sheet in an even layer. Roast in the oven until veggies are tender and the eggplant is golden about 35 minutes.
• While the veggies are roasting, place the pine nuts in a small baking dish. Place in the oven on the rack below the veggies. Roast until golden about 4 minutes, stirring once. Remove from oven and cool.
• Meanwhile cook pasta until al dente. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid. Transfer pasta to a large bowl.
• Transfer the roasted veggies to a food processor. Add the remaining 3 TBSP olive oil and pulse until the veggies are ppuréed, but not too smooth. It should still be chunky.
• Transfer the puréed veggies to the bowl with the pasta. Add the Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine. Add the reserved cooking liquid 1/2 cup at a time until the pasta is saucy.
• Sprinkle with the pine nuts and serve.

EGGPLANT CAPONATA CROSTINI

Steps:

• In a 5-quart Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion, raisins, pine nuts, garlic, and red-pepper flakes; cook stirring occasionally, until onion has softened, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Add tomato paste, cocoa powder, and sugar; cook, stirring, until tomato paste is fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add eggplant, vinegar, and 1/3 cup water.
• Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender and mixture is thick, 7 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and more sugar (up to 1 tablespoon), as desired.
• Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush both sides bread with olive oil. Grill, turning once, until toasted and grill marks appear, about 2 minutes per side.
• Top grilled bread with caponata; garnish with basil leaves. Caponata can be refrigerated up to 5 days in an airtight container; let cool completely before storing.

CROSTINI WITH EGGPLANT PESTO

Steps:

• Peel eggplant, leaving a few narrow bands of skin intact. Cut eggplant crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Place on large baking sheet; sprinkle lightly with salt. Let stand 30 minutes.
• Preheat broiler. Rinse eggplant; pat dry with paper towels. Brush large baking sheet with olive oil. Brush eggplant rounds generously on both sides with olive oil. Place on prepared sheet. Broil eggplant until tender and golden brown, watching closely to avoid burning, about 6 minutes per side. Cool.
• Finely grind pine nuts and garlic in processor. Add eggplant and process to coarse puree. Transfer mixture to small bowl. Stir in chopped basil, parsley and mint. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)
• Place eggplant pesto in center of platter and surround with toasts, or spread toasts with eggplant pesto and arrange on platter. Garnish with basil leaves and serve.

CROSTINI WITH EGGPLANT AND PINE NUT PURÉE

Steps:

• 1. Heat broiler. Peel, and trim eggplant, and slice into rounds about 1/2 inch thick. Lightly brush both sides of each slice with oil, arrange on a sheet pan, and broil about 6 inches from heat until golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Turn, and brown the second side. Remove from broiler, and stack slices so they steam to finish cooking. 2. Toast pine nuts in a small skillet over low heat, shaking often, until golden. Cool. Using a large mortar and pestle, grind pine nuts with garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt until smooth. Coarsely chop eggplant, add to mixture, and work into a somewhat rough purée with the pestle or in a food processor. Add a little lemon juice to sharpen the flavor. Taste for salt; add more if needed, and season with pepper. Stir in herbs. Spread on baguette slices or crackers, and garnish with a basil leaf.

RIGATONI WITH ROASTED EGGPLANT PUREE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees with rack in the middle. Linea baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut eggplants in half lengthwise and score flesh sides in a crosshatch pattern with a small sharp knife. Brush with 1 tablespoon of oil and season with generous pinch of salt and pepper. Arrange eggplant cut-side down on prepared baking sheet and bake, rotating pan once halfway through, until tender. About 45 to 50 minutes.
• Transfer baking sheet with roasted eggplant to wire rack. Turn eggplant halves cut-side up; let cool 5 minutes, then scrape eggplant flesh from skins; discard skins. Place flesh in a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl; let drain 10 minutes. Discard liquid.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• In center of cutting board, mound parsley, pine nuts, garlic and oregano; finely chop mixture together.
• In a large skillet, heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add parsley mixture, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, 3 minutes. Stir in eggplant and cook 1 minute more. Remove skillet from heat.
• Cook pasta in the boiling water until al dente; drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add eggplant mixture and cheese; toss to combine well. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve immediately.