Eggplant Pasta Pie recipe

My favorites together in 1 dish:  Eggplant and Pasta!  Enjoy!

Baked Pasta with Eggplant
serves 6

• 3 eggplants 
• sea salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 14 oz. chopped tomatoes (or 2 cups)
• 14 oz. rigatoni, or penne rigate
• 2 oz. caciocavallo, or pecorino cheese, grated

Thinly slice the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and leave to drain in a colander for at least 2 hours.  Squeeze lightly to get rid of excess liquid.
Preheat oven to 180C / 350F .

Grease a round cake tin with the unsalted butter; we used one that was 10 inches (23cm) wide and 2 inches (3.5cm) deep. put in 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and shake and turn the dish so that that they stick to the butter and line the dish.

Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep frying pan and sauté the aubergine slices in batches until lightly colored. Lift out and drain on kitchen paper. Using about three quarters of the eggplant, cover the base and sides of the breadcrumbed tin. Make sure that you overlap the slices so that there are no gaps.
 
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and cook the onion and garlic over a medium heat until soft, but not coloured. Add the tin of tomatoes and season with salt. Cover with a lid and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes.

While this is cooking bring a pan of water to the boil, salt well and cook the pasta for 3 minutes less than the packet instructions, so that it is still al dente. Reserve some cooking water and then drain the pasta.
Spoon a layer of the pasta into the aubergine lined tin followed by tomato sauce, a layer of the aubergine and a layer of grated cheese. Repeat with the remaining pasta, tomato sauce, and a final layer of aubergine. Finish with the remaining breadcrumbs to form a coating on the top. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes and until golden.

Let stand for about 10 minutes. This will allow the dish to firm up.
Put a plate over the top of the tin and holding both the plate and dish firmly, turn both over together so that the Timballo turns out onto the plate. Serve in wedges.
 
(recipe from Georgio Locatelli: Made in Sicily, Fourth Estate, 2011.)

Licking Your Wounds is Beneficial to your Health

"Langue de chien, langue de médecin," the French say: "A dog's tongue is a doctor's tongue."

It is instinctive to put a paper-cut finger in your mouth.  And dogs do the same with their wounds. 

Dog saliva  is relatively clean and full of enzymes, which promote healing.  The first few licks  help to clean away the debris that might be in the wound, and licking cleans  infectious matter from the outside world.  The bacteria in their mouths isn’t too bad, in fact many of them are  actually helpful.  Licking also stimulates blood flow and some other  healing effects.

Cats, sheep, and other animals also lick their wounds.  If you didn’t have hands- you might do the same!

The benefits of moderate wound licking:

The enzymes in dog saliva help destroy the cell walls of dangerous  bacteria.  Lactoferrin and other antibacterial and anti-viral compounds  can also be found in saliva.

Licking a wound delivers protease inhibitors, and growth factors, which promote wound healing.  Opiorphin is a pain reliever.

Finally, when meeting the skin, nitrate compounds in saliva break  down into Nitric Oxide, inhibiting bacterial growth and promoting  healing.

Too much licking:

A good amount of licking can be helpful for small wounds- but never  after surgery, especially if there have been stitches, dogs are likely  to bite and pull them out. 

Conclusion:  for minor wounds licking helps.  There can be minor risks is the creature licking is sick, but for the most part licking is an instinct that assists.

Source:  Assissi Animal Health blog

Vegan Sugar-Free Thanksgiving Pies

All of these recipes are Vegan, Sugar-Free pies.  Healthy and tasty. Sugar is not good for us, for our immune systems.  Make it a healthy Thanksgiving!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe:

Pecan Pie 
 Pecan Pie Recipe:

]

Pumpkin PIe with Maple whipped Cram
Pumpkin with Maple Whipped Cream Recipe:

Garlic is a "broad spectrum" Antibiotic

Garlic has been proven in scientific tests to kill a wide variety of bacteria and viruses.   So we can call garlic a Broad Spectrum Antibioltic.  Best to use garlic to prevent getting sick.  Raw garlic cloves are the best, but all types garlic help.

By the way, here is electron microscope photo of the flu virus.  Wow, so complex and beautiful in a way and so awful when it attacks.  Creepy.

A Kinder Thanksgiving: Turkey-Free

I hate to think of all the turkeys about to be slaughtered.  But if we are "mindful" we do not turn our heads away from the truth of the suffering.  There are many alternatives to the "Turkey Thanksgiving meal".  Very tasty ones.

Roast Tofuturkey, how good does this look?

Baby turkey -- many babies are orphaned during the Thanksgiving killing.

Cold Remedy / Prevention: Lemon, Ginger, Garlic Tea

Ginger, garlic, lemon, and honey make a rich, powerful tea that boosts your immune system.  

Drink this "power tea" regularly to prevent colds, or drink as remedy when you have a cold.

Lemons - Lemons are high in vitamin C which help support the immune system. The juice's  anti-inflammatory qualities help soothe sore throats. 

Honey - Honey has antimicrobial properties honey not only soothes the throat but it can also kill certain bacteria that causes the infection. Unpasteurized honey is best because the pasteurizing process removes many of the health benefits.

Garlic - Garlic is a natural antibiotic  Numerous studies have proven  it to be a bacterial, fungal and virus killing machine.

Ginger -  Ginger is a tropical plant related to turmeric and cardamom, produces a pungent, sweet-tasting root.  Ginger promotes healthy sweating, where a potent germ-fighting agent (dermicin) produced in healthy sweat gets transported to the skin’s surface. This not only removes the toxins from inside the body, but protects it against invading microorganisms from the outside. 

Ingredients

3 cups water
3 -6 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 cup honey (unpasteurizrd is best)
1/2 cup fresh lemon slices 

1/4  cup sliced ginger root

Directions

Put water in a medium saucepan and add garlic & ginger.
Bring to a boil.
Turn off heat and add honey and lemon juice
Strain into cup
Refrigerate leftover beverage

 

 

Winter Immunity: Garlic

Garlic has been used medicinally around the world for thousands of years. 

During the bubonic plague in Europe which killed almost half of the population, grave diggers (and grave robbers) drank wine containing garlic cloves.  An ancient Egyptian papyrus recommends garlic in treating 22 ailments to include heart disease and stamina.  In 1858, Louis Pasteur observed garlic's antibacterial activity, and it was used as an antiseptic.  And yet garlic is so tasty!  How many dishes would be blander without lovely garlic.

Sopa de Ajo (Garlic Soup)

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
5 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
3 cups organic vegetable broth (such as Emeril's)
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (1-ounce) slices rustic bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
8 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

 

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender (do not brown). Stir in paprika. Add broth, 1 cup water, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
3. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet; broil 4 minutes or until golden, stirring once halfway through cooking. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
4. Place about 1/4 cup bread cubes in each of 8 ovenproof soup bowls. Break one egg into each bowl; ladle about 1/2 cup broth mixture into each bowl. Arrange bowls on a baking sheet; bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until egg whites are set but yolks are still runny. Sprinkle evenly with chopped parsley.

Source:  My Recipes