Baked Orzo with Eggplant and Mozzarella

Another summer-to-fall eggplant dish, but this one falls (ha) more on the autumnal side of the scale, perfect for this cool weather we've been having.  I lifted this one from the Smitten Kitchen's Deb Perelman as well, but she got it from one of my favorite cookbook authors, Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi, who does amazing things with vegetables.  I've reproduced the recipe here with Deb's adaptations, which she explains on the original recipe page here (also worth checking out, as always, for its beautiful photos and excellent writing!).

BAKED ORZO WITH EGGPLANT AND MOZZARELLA
adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi via smittenkitchen.com

serves 4

about 1 1/4 lbs eggplant, cut into 3/4-inch dice
Salt and black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 celery stalk, in a 1/4-inch dice
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 ounces orzo, a rice-shaped pasta, rinsed
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 to 3 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped, or 1/2 that amount dried
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or more to taste, up to the zest of a whole lemon
4 ounces mozzarella, firmer is better here, cut into 1/3-inch dice
1 1/2 ounces (a generous 1/2 cup) parmesan, grated
3 medium tomatoes, diced

Sprinkle your eggplant generously with salt and let it drain in a colander for 30 minutes. I used this time to get the rest of my ingredients ready. After 30 minutes, rinse it well and pat it dry on towels.

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the oil and once the oil is shimmering, add the eggplant. Fry for 8 minutes, stirring pieces occasionally. Using a slotted spoon or spatula, transfer them to paper towels to drain. Add celery and carrots to remaining oil and cook for 3 minutes before adding onion and garlic. Cook together for 5 more minutes on medium heat. Stir in the orzo and tomato paste and cook for two minutes more. Off the heat, add the oregano, mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, fried eggplant, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon table salt, many grinds of black pepper and the stock and mix well.

Transfer mixture to an 8×11-inch (about 2 quarts) ovenproof baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes, then bake 20 minutes without the foil. (You can increase the ration of foil-on to foil-off time if you don’t like a crunchy pasta lid.) Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.