Farmer's Market and Italian Eggplant and Mushroom Casserole

I love Farmer's Market! You meet some really cool people. This is Bob. Bob sells organic produce at Farmer's Markets in Central Illinois that he grows himself and, along with these items on this particular day,

he also had eggplant. I bought that from him along with Swiss chard (both VERY reasonably priced) went to the neighboring booth, bought a watermelon and went about my merry way with my edible treasures. I cooked the Swiss chard for supper that evening along with burgers on the grill, had the watermelon for dessert and the next day made Italian Eggplant and Mushroom Casserole.

I don't bread and fry the eggplant. It's messy, I don't want the breadcrumbs (processed, I don't eat bread unless I make it myself) and...it's messy. So for this particular casserole (you gotta like...er, make that LOVE eggplant because this is really eggplanty), here is the recipe I used -

1 large (not enormous, but large) firm eggplant peeled and cut into smallish chunks (like 1 1/2" by 1 1/2")

4 ounces of sliced mushrooms (whatever kind you like. I used baby portabella for this one because that's what I had)

1 pint (or 2 cups) of marinara

4 ounces of mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Layer the eggplant and mushrooms in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Pour the marinara over it and cheese it up! as in layer the cheeses. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. If you want it a little browner (I did) put it under a low broiler for about 5 minutes or until it's as brown as you want it. Serve it with organic garlic bread or garlic biscuits. It's not bad! And, it's from the earth!!

Marinara and Home Grown Tomatoes

From this -

to this -

to this -

Summertime and bounty from the garden and the opportunity to make your own marinara sauce with nothing added to that that you don't want in it, as in chemicals and preservatives and sugar along with those "natural ingredients" that processed marinara and pasta sauce has that aren't particularly natural. The definition give by the FDA as "natural" is "nothing artificial or synthetic (including colors regardless of source) is included in, or has been added to, the product that would not normally be expected to be there."   I don't know about you but I prefer WANT to know what's in my food. The label "all natural" doesn't quite get it for me.

If you grow your own tomatoes you can use the less than perfect for sauce. If you don't, utilize your local farmers markets who may have vendors who will sell you their less than perfect at a discounted price. Peppers and onions - same thing. Grow your own or check out your farmers markets. As far as recipes, you can make up your own or find any number of recipes online but for this one here's what I used -

2 1/2 gallons of fresh tomatoes blanched (I used Roma and an heirloom variety called Ace 55 and another heirloom beefsteak).

2 large green peppers chopped

1 large onion chopped

2 tablespoons of dried Italian spices

1/2 C white wine

Salt to taste

Put it all in the crock pot and let it cook until it cooks down as thick as you want it. I let it cook all day. If I want it really thick I cook it some more the next day. This particular batch made 4 pints. We can tomatoes as much as we can for as long in the season as we can. Stewed tomatoes, marinara, spaghetti sauce, salsa. We have enough for the entire year. Most important, we know exactly what's in it and what's not in it, like BPA.

When we can we use a large pressure cooker/canner. If you aren't comfortable doing that the marina sauce can also be frozen. Freezing is easier and we enjoy the process and like having the jars sitting on open shelves. They add to the atmosphere!