Eggplant and Goat Cheese Risotto with Basil

I had no choice but to use my eggplant tonight. It was either use, or toss. I *hate* wasting food, so I decided to make a risotto with my eggplant. Although the only person to enjoy it would be me because eggplant is on Chad's long list of "I do not eat".

Since I knew he wasn't going to be sharing this dish with me, I decided to add in another item on his list, goat cheese.

I looked in the fridge and found a bit of basil. I threw that in as well. It was a very simple, but fantastically flavorful dish. I loved the way the flavors of the eggplant and goat cheese complimented each other and with the hint of basil, heavenly.

Eggplant and Goat Cheese Risotto with Basil
1 1/2 cups cubed eggplant salted and put aside for one hour (to extract excess moisture)
1/2 cup arborio rice
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. unsalted butter
2-3 Tbs. basil roughly chopped
1/2 cup onion finely chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1/4 cup white wine
3 1/2 -4 cups chicken stock (heated)
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled

Heat a meduim sized skillet over medium heat. Add butter and oil, when heated through add onions. Saute onions until they become soft, add garlic and saute a few minutes more. Add rice and eggplant and saute until rice looks toasty. Add white wine and stir until evaporated. Add about 1/2 cup of stock and stir until evaporated. Keep doing this until rice is tender but al dente. At the end add the basil and cook a couple of minutes, then add goat cheese and stir to incorporate. Serve immediately.