Eggplant Parm Cannoli

Last week's dreary, rainy, cold weather temporarily relieved my need for light summer food. I felt like something a little heavier and a lot cozier was in order...

This recipe was inspired by a meal I had years ago in Boston's North End. As I recall, the menu simply listed this dish as eggplant parm, but when it came out I was treated to this upgrade--hollowed out fried eggplant filled with a yummy garlic herb ricotta filling. It was delicious and obviously made an impact, since years later I found myself compelled to imitate it.

I started with small eggplants (my grocery store had them labeled as "Italian eggplant", and their shape was much more conducive to hollowing out into nice little tubes than the typical giant ones.) I hollowed them out, breaded them...you know the drill--flour, egg, breadcrumbs...and then fried them.
While they cooled down a bit, I mixed together some ricotta, fresh crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and fresh chopped basil.I improvised and used a sandwich bag with a corner cut off to pipe the filling into the golden brown fried eggplant "tubes". This is when it occurred to me that they were like savory eggplant cannoli. :)I warmed those in the oven for about 4-5 minutes, then served them over spaghetti with marinara* and some grated parmesan.

*No, I did not make my own marinara. Next time. (bluff)

But as far as store bought goes, we really like Newman's Own Organic Marinara.