Cut eggplant into small pieces. Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and garlic powder. Heat a pan with olive oil. Fry on medium-low heat until an eggplant gets smaller and brown. If you feel like the eggplant is too dry, add olive oil.
Once the eggplant gets brown, pour the veggie broth over the eggplant. Add whole peeled tomatoes and let cook for 2 minutes.
Add basil, thyme, paprika powder, salt, garlic powder, black pepper. Smash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Add tomato paste and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
Chop the onion very neatly. Heat another pan with oil. Once the oil is hot, throw chopped onion and garlic into the pan.
When the onion gets translucent, add uncooked rice. Let the rice fry on the oil for another 3 minutes while stirring.
This step is crucial. For the next 15-20 minutes you will be adding hot tomato broth with pieces of eggplant (2 spoons at the time), stirring continuously until the broth is fully absorbed. Cook on low heat.
Chop the dried tomatoes - smaller pieces are preferred. Throw them into the risotto and stir well. I left the risotto cook for another 5 minutes.
After, grate the parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the risotto. Stir and let sit for 3 minutes. In the end, you can add chopped parsley as well.
