Sicilian Eggplant, Artichoke and Mushroom Cake

Purpetti di Milanciana, Carcocciuli e Fungi

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I love eggplant, artichokes and mushrooms. My husband hates eggplant and artichokes, but likes mushrooms…Thank goodness! I think I have mentioned this before in one of my posts and if I haven?t,  here is my secret. Some years ago my husband caught on to my conspiracy that I should have my husband try all the vegetables and fruits known to man. When I met him he only had a repertoire of 4-5 dishes and little did he know that he would marry a lover of food, and that his wife would not be happy with making the same dishes over and over again.

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As a result he always asks me what?s for lunch and what?s for dinner to see if he can sway me to make the already tried dishes that he loves most, and yet he more often than not, enjoys the new experiences.

Since I started this blog, Carlos does not ask me what am I making for dinner or lunch, because he knows I?m working on new creations and that?s the way it goes. Well, today he asked me what I was making for lunch and my reply was that I was creating a new dish with mushrooms and that I needed his help in guessing what I had created.

When he came down to lunch, he looked at this beautiful dish and complimented me on the looks of it. Then I asked him to taste it and he said it was absolutely delicious. Then I asked him to guess what  ingredients I had used and he could taste the mushrooms but couldn?t make the other ingredients out specifically. When I told him the other two ingredients were eggplant and artichoke, he looked at me not knowing what to say. So I said it for him ?Oh my God, my husband loves eggplant and artichoke.? He even had a second helping.

I am convinced that any ingredient has been perfectly created for man to add his special touch and fabricate his own work of art. It is a gift that has been given to everyone, we only need to cultivate it.

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Yields 12 cakes

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Ingredients

For the mushroom and sun dry tomato dressing

1/2 cup dry porcini mushrooms, reconstituted in 1 cup of water for 30 minutes minimum

1/4 cup Olive oil for sauteing

1 tbsp sun dried tomatoes chopped in small pieces, for color

1/4 cup Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 tsp finely chopped basil

Salt to taste

Directions

For the mushroom and sun dry tomato dressing

Drain reconstituted mushrooms and reserve liquid

Chop mushrooms into large pieces

In a saute pan heat up the 1/4 cup olive oil

Place the porcini mushrooms inside and saute on medium heat for 1 minute

Add the reserved liquid that has been filtered from any impurities.

Cook until the liquid has reduced to 1/4 cup

Let it cool

then add the sun dried tomatoes, garlic, Virgin Olive Oil,  balsamic vinegar,salt, and pepper to taste

mix well together and let it sit inside fridge until you have finished preparing the cakes.

Ingredients

For the cakes

One medium eggplant cut into 1 inch squares

2 artichoke hearts, remove as many outer leaves ,up to the ones that are tender and appear yellow, then cut all the leaves off at the yellow line

4-6 oz fresh mushrooms (I used oyster mushrooms, but you can use any other type, portobello or shitake can work just as well)

4 cups water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp bread crumbs

3 tbsp Pecorino cheese

1 egg beaten

Pepper to taste

Olive oil for frying

Directions

For the cakes

Boil the 4 cups of water

Add the salt

Add the artichoke hearts cook for 30 minutes

Then add the eggplant and the mushrooms and cook all together for another 15 minutes

Drain with a colander,  let the colander sit on a dish for several minutes until all liquid is out, with a spoon you can push lightly onto the veggies to help the drainage.

When drained, remove the rest of the leaves from the artichokes including the  furry stuff from the center of the heart

Use a processor to chop the eggplant, artichoke hearts and the mushrooms, it?s okay if it remains a little lumpy.

Let it cool slightly

Add bread crumbs, cheese and pepper if desired

Mix well

Then add the egg and mix again.

In a frying pan heat up a couple of tablespoons of Olive oil

Put a 1/4 cup of the vegetable mixture in your hand and shape it into a ball,(it will be kind of soft but don?t worry about that)

Drop the ball into the heated olive oil and lower heat to medium

with a spoon squish the ball down just a little to form a 1 inch thick, round cake

Let it brown on one side and then turn carefully to the other making sure they do not break.

Cook until brown on both sides and cake becomes firmer.

Removed from heat and drain on paper towels.

Set aside until all are done in the same manner.

Serving Suggestions

I placed them on a beautiful bed of petite salad leaves (see pictures below), put two cakes on top of the salad and then dressed the whole thing with my prepared mushroom and sundried tomato dressing.

It makes a great, impressive lunch served with my Nonna?s Crusty Bread

You can also serve it for dinner with  potatoes and a vegetable such as asparagus

It also makes a great snack

petite oak lettuce

petite tango lettuce