Eggplant and Meyer Lemon Risotto

• 2 medium-sized eggplants
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tbl olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 7 oz arborio rice
• 1/2 cup of dry white wine
• 3 1/4 cups of hot vegetable stock
• zest of 1 Meyer lemon + 2 tbl freshly-squeezed juice
• 1 1/2 tbl unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
• diced basil or flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Burn Half of an eggplant

1. Preheat your broiler. Make 4-5 cuts into the eggplant. Place the eggplant on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil it for approx 1 hour.

2. Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and toss the skin. Roughly chop the eggplant flesh and set it aside.

Recipe

1. Dice the other eggplant into 1/2 inch pieces. Heat about 1/3 cup of olive oil in a medium saucepan and fry the eggplant, in 2-3 batches, until golden. Toss it frequently as it cooks so as to not burn it.

2. Place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle it with kosher salt.

3. Add the onion and the rest of the oil to the same pan and cook until soft. Add the garlic, cooking for a couple of minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat the grains. Pour in the wine and let it cook off for 2-3 minutes (turn up the heat if it is not hissing). Once the wine is nearly cooked off, dial down the heat.

4. Pour in a ladleful of hot stock and stir. Keep adding the stock, approximately 1/2 cup at a time, and stir the rice continuously as it cooks. Once you have used up all of the stock, remove your pan from the heat.

5. Add about half of the lemon zest, the lemon juice, butter, Parmesan, most of the pan-fried eggplant (set some aside for topping), eggplant flesh and season with salt. Stir and season with more salt and pepper, as needed.

To serve, scoop risotto into bowls, top with some of the remaining pan-fried eggplant and lemon zest. Have plenty of extra Parmesan cheese on hand.