Polenta with Tomato Eggplant Sauce

INGREDIENTS

2 cups, butternut squash -peeled and cubed
1 1/2 pounds, eggplant
2 tablespoons, olive oil
2 cloves, garlic
1/8 teaspoon, red pepper flakes
1 can, diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon, red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon, sugar
1/2 cup, cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon, salt
2 cups, chicken stock – divided
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons, butter
2 ounces, Parmesan cheese

METHOD

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Place squash on a sheet pan over non-stick foil. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Toss.
3. Place squash in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Turn off oven.
4. Remove squash from oven. Let cool then mash with a potato masher.
5. Turn on the broiler in your stove.
6. Wash, trim and slice eggplant lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Brush with four teaspoons of the oil.
7. Broil the eggplant until it begins to brown on both sides. Set aside.
8. Mince garlic, and saute in the remaining two teaspoons of hot oil in a saucepan with hot-pepper flakes for 30 seconds.
9. Crush tomatoes with your fingers and add them in the pan with vinegar and sugar. Reduce heat and simmer, pausing to smash down the tomatoes, until the rest of the meal is complete.
10. Add corn meal to 1/2 cup chicken stock and stir to combine.
11. In a separate high-sided pot, bring remaining chicken stock to a boil and whisk in corn meal mixture. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally.
12. Cut the skin from eggplant and cut into 1/2-inch chunks. Add to tomatoes.
13. Season the polenta with salt and pepper. Add butter.
14. Mix the mashed butternut squash into the polenta.
15. Meanwhile, coarsely grate the cheese.
16. Spoon polenta onto two dinner plates; top with tomato-eggplant sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.