Eggplant Cheese Pie with Zucchini Crust

Abundance!  That's what I'm feeling with the eggplants this year!  Oh, my goodness - they're so gorgeous, voluptuous, seductive.
But tomatoes are not plentiful - local organic ones, anyway.  There's been a late blight that attacked the tomatoes at the farm, so while we have nice cherry tomatoes, there are few large ones to combine with the eggplants for the usual things like rattatouille, or caponata, my go to recipes to use up eggplant.

But one of my all time favorite cookbook authors is Jane Brody.  And this is a great recipe from her Good Food Book.

1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1/2" chunks
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. oregano
3/4 tsp. dried basil - but I used a handful of fresh basil

dash of cayenne to taste
1 small zucchini, unpeeled, sliced
2/3 c. (one small can) evaporated skim milk
1 egg
8 ounces part skim mozzarella, grated

Saute onion, garlic, and eggplant for a few minutes.  Cover skillet and continue cooking for about 5 minutes till eggplant is soft.  Add salt, oregano, basil and cayenne and stir well.

Line bottom and sides of a greased 10" pie plate with zucchini slices.  Carefully spoon eggplant mixture over them.

In a bowl combine milk, egg, and cheese.  Pour over the vegetables.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

I've fiddled with this - as you're welcome to do.  Today I had fresh basil rather than dried.  I had cheddar cheese, but no mozzarella. I doubled the recipe because I know we will want more of it and I had plenty of the ingredients.  I had jalapeno and Hungarian wax peppers so topped the pie with those for flavor and color.  It just came out of the oven and I can't wait to dig into it!

Bon appetit!  Thank you, Jane!