I have written about Coach Farms goat ricotta in other posts, it’s great in lasagna and for making gnocchi. I love it in this recipe as well. It’s more flavorful, creamier and less chalky than other ricottas, and it is lower in fat and calories than even part-skim ricotta. I find it at Whole Foods and PCC in Seattle.
If you aren’t a big lover of eggplant, or don’t think you like eggplant, I encourge you to try this recipe anyway. There are two reasons that people generally don’t like eggplant: the texture and the bitter flavor. This texture of the eggplant in this dish is melt-in-your mouth, and the bitterness is extracted from the eggplant with salt prior to cooking. I recommend salting eggplant to extract the bitter liquid prior to using eggplant in any preparation. I salt eggplant slices prior to making eggplant parmesan, and I salt it is cube form prior to making ratatuille. The only time that I don’t use the pre-salting technique is if I’m using a small Japanese or Chinese eggplant. These varieties don’t seem to have the same bitterness as the larger varieties.
