Rice eggplant upside-down pie

6 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1½ teaspoon Olive oil
3 tablespoons Bread crumbs
1 Eggplant,cut in 1/4\" slices
¼ cup Olive oil
1 cup Rice,long-grain
½ pounds Italian sausage,sweet
1 Onion,small,chopped
2 Garlic cloves,finely chopped
1 Egg,lightly beaten
3 tablespoons Tomato paste
1 teaspoon Leaf oregano,crumbled
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Pepper
2 ounces Provolone cheese,shredded
2 ounces Mozzarella cheese,shredded
¼ cup Pine nuts(opt)
Parsley(garnish,opt)
Cherry tomatoes(garnish,opt)

Directions

1. Preheat broiler. Grease bottom and sides of 10" pie plate with the 1-½ teaspoons olive oil. Dust with bread crumbs. Place eggplant on baking sheet; brush both sides with ¼ cup oil. 2. Broil about 5 minutes or until lightly browned on both sides. 3. Reduce oven to moderate (350'F). 4. Cook rice following package directions, salt optional. Drain any excess liquid. Reserve rice. Cover bottom and sides of prepared plate with eggplant slices, overlapping if necessary. 5. Crumble sausage into large skillet; lightly brown.

Carefully pour off excess fat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Stir in rice, egg, tomato paste, oregano, salt, pepper, provolone, mozzarella and pine nuts, if using. Spoon mixture over eggplant, packing down well. Cover with foil. 6. Bake in preheated moderate oven (350'F) for 30 minutes. Remove from oven. Place serving plate over pie plate; carefully invert. Remove pie plate. Garnish with parsley and cherry tomatoes, if you wish. Let stand 10 minues before slicing. (Vivian Calandiello, Totowa NJ)

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