Eggplant and Tomato Rice Bake

Serves 6 | Prep time: 15 mins + cooling time | Cooking time: 75 mins

INGREDIENTS

• olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400g arborio or carnaroli rice
• 1.5 litres vegetable stock
• 250g crushed tomatoes or passata
• 3 Tbsp tomato paste
• 40g vegan parmesan, grated or 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• large handful of parsley, chopped
• salt
• 150g vegan mozzarella cheese, cubed
• 2 large eggplants
• sunflower oil, for shallow frying

METHOD

1. Heat a big glug of olive oil in a large pot. Sauté the onion until softened, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the rice and sauté for a couple of minutes until the rice is lightly toasted.
2. Pour in half of the vegetable stock, along with the crushed tomatoes and paste. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the rice absorbs the liquid.
3. Gradually add the remaining stock, continuing to simmer until the rice is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in the parmesan or nutritional yeast, parsley and season with generous pinches of salt to taste. Remove from the heat and allow the rice to cool.
4. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into long pieces. Shallow fry in the sunflower oil on each side until lightly browned. Drain very well on absorbent paper.
5. Grease a 23-24 cm diameter ring cake tin. Line the tin with the fried eggplant slices, overlapping them slightly. Spoon about half of the cooked rice over the eggplant, pressing down evenly. Distribute the mozzarella over the rice layer, then top with the remaining rice, smoothing it down to reach the top of the tin.
6. Bake at 190°C for about 30 minutes or until the rice forms a slight crust on top. Cool a little before carefully inverting the timballo onto a serving plate. You may need to tap on the tin to help release it. Use a sharp or serrated knife to ‘carve’ the timballo into good sized serves.

Note – Nadia’s serving suggestion: Serve as a second course with a side of Rustic Tomato Bean Stew.

Serving suggestion for a second course: Eggplant & Tomato Rice Bake with Rustic Tomato Bean Stew