Risotto with lemon and eggplant

The success of a risotto depends on the quality of the broth used. Use a homemade vegetable broth for this risotto. This risotto is fairly light.

First roast half of the aubergines in an oven for an hour. The aubergines must be scalded and sagged. The skin must be torn open. Then cut them in length and scoop out the flesh and leave the skin behind. Discard the skin. Finely chop the flesh and set aside.

Cut the other aubergines into 1.5 cm cubes. Heat 3/4 olive oil in a frying pan and fry the aubergine cubes in portions until golden brown and crispy. Put them in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Let them cool.

For the risotto, put the onion with the remaining oil in a pan with a firm, flat bottom and braise on a low heat until it is glassy. Braise the garlic for 3 minutes. Turn up the heat, put the rice in the pan and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until all the grains are greasy. Pour in the wine (it must sizzle) and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Turn the heat half high. Now add the stock, always a ladle full, wait until the stock has been fully absorbed before adding the next spoon and stir constantly. Remove all the stock from the heat when the stock has been added.

Add half of the lemon zest, lemon juice, roasted eggplant flesh, butter, most of the cheese and salt. Stir everything together and set aside the closed pan for 5 minutes. Then taste and add salt and pepper if desired.

Put the risotto on the plates and sprinkle with the fried eggplant cubes, the remaining parmesan, the basil and the remaining lemon zest.