This recipe is adapted from a recipe my friend Deborah Madison shared in her book, Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen. It is absolutely gorgeous! Purple eggplant, red peppers, and golden saffron custard are a beautiful combination. Eggplant and red peppers are the perfect ingredients to cook in a wood-fired oven, as they both take on the wonderful smokiness of the fire. In this recipe, the eggplant is lightly sautéed in a skillet in the oven. The red peppers, tomatoes, and garlic are roasted whole, directly on the floor of the oven or in the embers, until the skins are blistered and beautifully charred. When cooled, they are skinned and seeded. Peppers roasted this way have a more complex flavor than when blackened on the stove top.

　　

Ingredients

serves 6 to 8 as a main course

　　1 1/2 pounds small globe eggplants, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices

　　3 tablespoons olive oil

　　Salt, for sprinkling, plus 1/2 teaspoon

　　2 red bell peppers

　　3 medium tomatoes

　　1 head garlic

　　2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

　　1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence (optional)

　　Pinch of sugar

　　Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

　　1 cup toasted bread crumbs

　　3 tablespoons almond meal

　　12 ounces fresh goat cheese, thinly sliced

　　1/3 cup oil-cured olives, pitted and halved

　　1/2 cup fresh whole flat-leaf parsley leaves

　　2 large eggs

　　1 1/2 cups Greek goat’s milk yogurt

　　2 small pinches saffron threads, soaked in a few tablespoons hot water

　　

Step 1

Prepare a medium heat fire (400°F) in a wood-fired oven or cooker.

　　

Step 2

Sauté the eggplants in the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat on the stove top, or directly in the wood-fired oven or on the cooker. Cook for 2 minutes on each side, or until soft. Set the eggplant aside on paper towels to drain. Lightly salt both sides.

　　

Step 3

When there are some hot embers in the fire, place the red peppers, tomatoes, and garlic on the floor of the oven or bottom of the cooker near the embers. Rotate them frequently as the skins blister and char. Cook until the skins are fully charred, 5 to 7 minutes for the tomatoes and 10 minutes for the peppers. Cook the garlic until the skin is slightly charred and the cloves are soft, about 5 to 7 minutes.

　　

Step 4

In a small bowl, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins and mash with a fork to form a paste. Place the charred tomatoes and peppers in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sweat for 10 minutes. Remove the skins from the tomatoes and peppers. Slice open the peppers, remove the stems and seeds, cut into pieces about the same size as the eggplant, and set aside. Slice open the tomatoes and remove the seeds with your index finger or by squeezing gently. Dice the tomatoes and combine with the mashed garlic, herbs, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper.

　　

Step 5

Brush a clay casserole with olive oil and dust with a mixture of the bread crumbs and almond meal. Reserve the rest of the bread-crumb mixture. Line the casserole with one-third of the tomato mixture, then layer on slices of eggplant, goat cheese, red pepper, and bread-crumb mixture, followed by half of the olives. Salt and pepper each layer. Repeat the layers, finishing with the tomato mixture, parsley, and goat cheese. Whisk the eggs with the yogurt and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir in the saffron liquid and pour the custard over the entire casserole.

　　

Step 6

Bake for 25 minutes in a wood-fired oven, or until the casserole is bubbly and golden on top. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into portions and serving.

　　Reprinted with permission from Wood-Fired Cooking: Techniques and Recipes for the Grill, Backyard Oven, Fireplace, and Campfire by Mary Karlin, copyright © 2009. Photography copyright © 2009 by Ed Anderson. Published by Ten Speed Press.