Eggstatic for Eggplant

I was very excited about your pick this week; it is a real departure from my comfort zone, and I was happy to delve into the world of alternatives. I even hosted a *real* vegetarian for dinner to get his input on my finished product. I served this with a side of fresh pasta, potato bread, guest-brought spinach salad, and the epicurious-recommended Pinot Noir.

Modifications:

I followed the advice of a few of the reviewers. I cut the cheese (so to speak) with some ricotta and fresh parmesan, and added two peeled, seeded tomatoes to my home-roasted red pepper. I used a pastry brush to apply olive oil to the eggplant. Finally, I added a little more fresh parmesan for the last 3 minutes of baking.

Preparation:

I found the cooking instructions to be quite straightforward for this dish. I was a little wary about the thickness of the eggplant slices, but it seemed to turn out at the end. I kept my "sauce" a little on the chunky side; Fok apparently likes to be able to identify his ingredients....

The Verdict:

A pleasant surprise. I really liked the cannelloni filling. The eggplant was good too, but I found that two was plenty for me. The veggie reports: "fantastic!" and later asked for the recipe. After lunch today, Fok reported the dish improves with time. All in all, a very successful experiment indeed, perhaps most suitable during a prolonged fast. This week's verdict: 3.9 Lenten feasts out of 5.