Recipe rescue – turn it into puree! (updated)

I am into roasting on the grill right now, and maximizing the opportunity to cook outdoors to keep the house cool in this 90 degree plus heat.   I have been putting everything that can be cooked on the grill.   I found some cute little baby eggplants so I roasted ’em babies up along with some green chiles and white onions.  I  added the usual drizzle of olive oil and a dash of “Mrs. Dash’s” seasoning because I was out of ideas and tired of basil and parsley.   The result was marginal.   

Rather than waste good food I decided to re-invent it by mashing it all together in the food processor.  I wanted to duplicate  Trader Joe’s eggplant spread – which is fanstastic on pasta.   Result?  OMG!  Just a little taste on my finger sent me gulping ice water!   The green chiles happened to be a hotter variety than I expected and I put two large ones in there, even tho I took out the seeds.  And I think the roasted minced garlic I used from a jar may have also contributed.  Now what?  I put it in the fridge overnight to think about my next approach.

Since I had some left over home made (“scratch”) ricotta I thought it might tone down the heat to mix the eggplant and peppers mixture with the cheese.  But the cheese was pretty crumbly so I added a couple tablespoons of whole milk and blended it until smooth.  Then I added heaping serving spoons full of the eggplant and pepper puree.  Nothing to blog home about.  I added more of the eggplant mixture and some sea salt.  Better, but probably still too much ricotta.  I spread it on toasted artisan bread slices, and closed the kitchen for the night.

I have more eggplant and pepper puree so back it goes in the refrig and tomorrow I will try mixing it with cream cheese, maybe some greek olives.  Wondering about pine nuts. Or forget the cream cheese and do a hummus-like dish with pureed white beans?  I’ll sleep on it and see what ideas tomorrow brings.

If I can get the flavors right on the eggplant puree, I would feature it on an appetizer plate of toasted bread wedges, roasted sweet corn and black bean salsa, with avacado slices sprinkled with sea salt and lime juice.

UPDATE: 

In the first posting I said, as highlighted above, that I would try this mixed with cream cheese instead of ricotta. I finally tried this out and it was fantastic!  Used 8 oz of softened cream cheese, blended in the eggplant and pepper puree, added finely chopped Kalamat olives and it was gone before I got to use it in a recipe.  This would make a great appetizer cheese ball for a party with your favorite crackers or crunchy crust bread.  I added pine nuts sprinkled on top and that was wonderful too.  But those little bitty guys are expensive, so use sparingly!