Eggplant Gratin with Ricotta Custard and Parmesan

A Crescent Dragonwagon recipe.  Shelley and mom have both raved about this when I've made it in the past, so here it is.

It sounds fancy, but it's really not.  And there are some simplifications you can do if you want to save time.  I'll type it up as written and then say my simplifications at the end.

Cooking spray
2 medium-large eggplants, thinly sliced and soaked in salt water for 15 minutes
1/2 C stale but not crisp-dry breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp olive oil
3 oz. neufshatel reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot
1/2 C evaporated skim milk
Several gratings of fresh nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 lb. ricotta salata, crumbled
8-10 fresh basil leaves
1 1/2 C Basic Wintertime Italian Tomato Sauce (recipe to follow)
2 oz. (about 1/2 C) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1.  Preheat the oven to 375.
2.  Spray a jelly-roll pan and a medium gratin dish or casserole with cooking spray.  Set aside.
3.  Rinse the salt water off the eggplant slices under cold running water.  Pat dry.  Lay the eggplant out on the prepared jelly-roll pan.  Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake until softened, about 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and set aside.
4.  Combine the breadcrumbs with the garlic, parsley, and oil in a food processor.  Buzz, pulsing as needed, until the garlic and parsley are finely minced.  Transfer the crumb mixture to a small bowl and set aside.
5.  Without washing the food processor, make the binding custard:  Combine the neufchatel, egg, cornstarch, and 2 tablespoons of the evaporated skim milk in the food processor.  Pulse until the mixture is failry smooth, pausing from time to time to scrape down the sides.  With the motor running, pour in the remaining evaporated skim milk.  Season to taste with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Add the crumbled ricotta salata and pulse to just combine.  Do not puree, as you want chunks of ricotta salata remaining in the mixture.
6.  Line the bottom of the prepared gratin dish with about half of the eggplant.  Tear up the basil and scatter it over the eggplant.  Top with the tomato sauce.  Add another layer of eggplant, then pour the binding custard over it.  Sprinkle the Parmesan over the custard, then cover with the breadcrumb mixture.  Bake until the crumbs are golden brown and crisp, about 30 minutes.

Note: Ricotta salata is a pleasing, mild cheese, firm enough to slice, pure white, amiable, with a bit more salty bite to it than creamy fresh ricotta.  It's not easy to find in northwest Arkansas, so I occasionally fake it with my Ricotta Sorta-Salata, made by creaming together 1 C part-skim ricotta, 2 oz. feta cheese, and 1 oz. neufchatel reduced-fat cream cheese in the food processor.  Not authentic, but it does the trick.


Okay, here are my simplifications:

Obviously it's best and tastiest to do it as written.  It's also the most expensive and time consuming.  So sometimes I do any or all of the following to save time:

-use half a jar of marinara/tomato/pasta sauce instead of making my own.
-use ground nutmeg instead of fresh.
-use canned breadcrumbs.
-use regular cream cheese if I don't have the lower fat neufchatel on hand.
-make the Ricotta Sorta-Salata; I've done it without the feta when I didn't have that, and it turned out fine.
-I think I left out all but 2 Tbsp of the evaporated milk on accident one time, and it still tasted good.
-sometimes I don't bother spraying the pans or covering the eggplant with foil, and I've never had a problem.  One thing I always do, though, is soak the eggplant in the salt water and rinse.  This draws out the bitterness of the eggplant.