Yummy Malaysiana: baked orzo with eggplant and mozzarella

Okay, I know that despite everyone being back to school, people actually showing up to the office again, like, to work, again and Labor Day being but a blip in the rearview mirror that summer isnt really over yet its hot, the days are still relatively long and, no, I will not put my sandals away. But I cant help it. As soon as the first day of September, one of my favorite months, arrives, my brain becomes fiercely rooted in all things fall. I grab cardigans on the way out the door. I crave soup. I walk right past the peaches at the market so I can get to the new apples instead. And I turn on the oven again to make deep, bubbly, and more filling meals.

I have mixed feelings about traditional baked pasta dishes. I mean, if you show up to my place with a foil casserole dish of your grandmas baked ziti, I will probably leap in your arms with relief because I dont, in fact, always feel like making dinner. We will devour it; everyone will go to bed happy and my son will probably wonder why his mama cant just cook like that. But I would probably never mix a pound of cheese or tub of ricotta into a casserole dish its all too much, too heavy. And so, when I ! spied a baked orzo dish, with eggplant and just a modicum of mozzarella from Yotam Ottolenghi (sadly, not from his new cookbook out next month, because I am totally out of order), I knew it was everything Id ever hoped and dreamed for in baked pasta balance (theres are pillows of eggplant throughout), comfort (there are decadent cheese pulls stretching from every forkful, a delightful term I learned from this article) and ease (like the easiest macaroni-and-cheese I know how to make, you dont even need to pre-boil the pasta).