The 21st Century Housewife's Eggplant & Zucchini Milanese

This is a really comforting and delicious meal, but it does take a little bit of effort and the timing is pretty important. Having said that, it tastes so good it is worth that little bit of extra effort! It’s a great way to use up those zucchini that get a bit over-grown in the garden, although it goes without saying that if you only have eggplant you can just use one or the other. You can also use normal size zucchini, but it does make things a bit more fiddly as you need more slices. The number of vegetables you need really depends on their size. Basically you want the equivalent of three or four large slices of the fried veggies per person.

Use whatever tomato sauce you like, be it homemade or from a jar.

Remember you need to be careful when working with very hot oil. It is really flammable and it spits, so take care! Be sure to remove the oil from the heat as soon as you have finished cooking.

To serve four people you need:-

1 to 2 eggplants, washed with the top and end removed, and sliced in half inch slices

1 very large zucchini, washed with the top and end removed, and sliced in half inch slices

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

5 fluid ounces sparkling water

about 1 cup thinly shaved or grated vegetarian cheese (preferably mozzarella)

2 cups tomato sauce

about 12 ounces spaghetti (enough for 4 people)

sunflower or olive oil (not Extra Virgin)

Start the spaghetti cooking in boiling salted water as per the package instructions, and heat about a half inch of oil in a large frying pan.

Turn the oven on to medium (about 300℉ or 150℃), and warm a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, put the flour and salt in a medium size bowl. Gradually whisk in the sparkling water.

Place the tomato sauce in a saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Take a small spoonful of batter and sprinkle a few drops of batter in the oil. If it sizzles up nicely, it is ready. If not, get it a bit hotter. The hotter the oil, the less will be absorbed into the vegetables.

When the oil is ready, dip the vegetable slices into the batter (it’s best to cook the zucchini first) and put about four to five slices at a time into the oil. Leave the slices for two to three minutes and then just peek the bottom of one using tongs. Once you can see they are browning, then turn the slices over and cook for another couple of minutes on the other side. When both sides are brown, drain the slices on paper towels. Place the slices on the baking sheet and put a couple slivers of the cheese on top of each slice.

Put the baking sheet in the oven, and repeat the battering and frying steps with all the zucchini and eggplant slices, remembering to drain them, top with cheese and keep warm in the oven.

When the spaghetti is done, drain it and return it to the pan. Hopefully by now all your vegetables will be cooked, but if not, carry on cooking them, keeping the spaghetti warm and stirring occasionally from time to time.

Serve as in the photograph at the top of the recipe, with a bit of tomato sauce atop the fried eggplant and zucchini slices and a bit of spaghetti topped with tomato sauce on the side.  You can sprinkle some more cheese on top if you like.

The 21st Century Housewife's© Easy "Green" Pasta with Pancetta

I’ll be posting some festive recipes soon, but for the moment I’m concentrating on easy, delicious recipes that make life less stressful at this busy time of year. This recipe is just right for one of those evenings after a long day, or after an exhausting session of Christmas shopping. It is so easy, and perfect for using up the lovely autumn vegetables we are getting now. Leeks and courgette (zucchini) are plentiful and they taste delicious. I like to use cubed pancetta (Italian bacon) in this recipe, but if you want to keep this recipe vegetarian, just use an extra tablespoon of olive oil and leave out the meat. It really is so quick to put together - okay, there is a little light chopping involved, but that can be quite therapeutic after a rough day!

You can use any pasta shapes you like for this, although penne is a good one to use as it is budget-friendly. By all means use whole wheat pasta if you want to ramp up the fibre and vitamin content; I did not have any the night I took the photograph so I used white pasta, but it makes no difference to the finished dish what sort you use. The recipe will serve 4 hungry people.

1 tablespoon olive oil (2 tablespoons if you are leaving out the pancetta)
70 grams of chopped pancetta (or bacon lardons)
(You can use 3 or 4 slices of streaky bacon, chopped, if you can’t find pancetta.)
3 leeks (white part only), washed and cut in thin slices
1 courgette (zucchini), washed and cut in fairly thin half moons
(Slice the stem and end off, then cut the courgette in half lengthwise, and then slice - this will give you half moons)
generous handful of frozen peas
250 grams pasta shapes
4 generous tablespoons ready-made basil pesto
2 tablespoons half fat (low fat) crème fraîche or sour cream

Prepare the vegetables and heat a medium size frying pan with a lid to medium heat. Add the pancetta or bacon (or heat 1 tablespoon oil in the pan if you are not using meat). Toss the pancetta (if using) around for a minute to allow some of the fat to release. Add the leeks and courgette (zucchini).



Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over the vegetables and toss with the pancetta. Cook for about five minutes and then put the lid on and stir occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften and the pancetta is cooked.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan in plenty of boiling salted water, according to package directions.

Add the pesto and crème fraîche or sour cream to the vegetables and pancetta in the frying pan. Stir and heat through.



Drain the pasta and return to its pan. Add the vegetable and pancetta sauce to the pasta and toss to coat.

Serve with a nice glass of red wine - you deserve it :)