Wino Wednesday: Notlejon

My mom makes a dish she calls potlejon. It's a type of eggplant casserole made with ground meat, baked eggplant, and tomato sauce, then topped with cheese. Some quick research showed that it is not potlejon at all. Potlejon is a roasted eggplant salad.

Anyway, I decided that in all fairness, I should call this NOTlejon. It's a cross between Italian and Middle Eastern. I'd suggest pairing it with a nice red that has a bit of spice.

Here's how:

Start by roasting the eggplant. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice a large eggplant in half lengthwise, then cut into slices about 3/4 inch thick. Coat a cookie sheet in olive oil, and lay the slices of eggplant down on top. Pop in the oven. Check after about 15-20 minutes. When the eggplant is golden brown on top, turn the slices over and put it back in the oven. Cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until it's cooked through. The eggplant will shrink down to about 1/4 inch thick when it cooks. When it's done, take it out of the oven and turn the temperature down to about 350.

While the eggplant is in the oven, cook some quinoa. You'll need about 1 1/2 c. of cooked quinoa for this recipe.

Start on the sauce. Either make your own tomato sauce, or heat some from a can. Either way, you should saute about half a cup of chopped onion and a clove or two of garlic in the pan first. Add the sauce. Give it a taste and improve as desired. I usually add some basil, marjoram, and oregano. I also like adding wine or vinegar and chopped olives.

When the quinoa is done, stir it into the sauce.

Get yourself a casserole dish. You can grease it with oil if you want to.

Add a vertical layer of eggplant against one edge of the casserole dish. You want the skin side facing up. It will make a pretty pattern when you're done. It helps to tilt the casserole. Add some of the quinoa-sauce mixture. You want about half an inch to an inch. Add another row of eggplant slices, then the sauce mixture. Repeat. At the end, you'll have a dish that has red and purplish stripes. Cute, huh?

Sprinkle a layer of cheese on top (or nutritional yeast, if you are dairy-free). Pop it in the oven and bake, uncovered, until the cheese melts and the mixture is heated through.

Bonus: chop some veggie sausage and cook in oil until crispy. (Season with more salt, crushed pepper, and fennel seeds if it needs it.) Sprinkle on individual portions.