Preheat oven to 400 degrees F with rack in the center of the oven.

Begin by prepping the eggplant (see tutorial for this here. Make sure to keep 55g of the inside eggplant "meat" to be used in the risotto, and dice it into smaller chunks.

Place the prepped eggplant skins on a baking sheet. Place the olive oil in a small dish and, using a pastry brush, lightly oil all of the eggplant "meat". Don't go crazy with the olive oil, since you need the rest to sautee the eggplant and zucchini.

Sprinkle some salt on the oiled eggplant skins, then bake them in the preheated oven and for ~30 minutes (mine took exactly 30 minutes), until the skin has softened and the insides have browned and become tender. While they're cooking, make the risotto.

Heat the vegetable broth in a small saucepan until simmering, then turn burner off and leave the pan on the burner (the broth needs to be warmed to make the risotto cook properly when it's added in).

Heat the remaining olive oil in a 2 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in the 55g of diced eggplant, the diced zucchini and the chives and cook, stirring occasionally, for ~4-5 minutes until the veggies have browned nicely. Don't worry about fully cooking them, since they will cook more with the risotto. You're just looking to get a nice sautee/brown color to them for flavor.

When veggies have browned, add the arborio rice and salt into the pan and stir for ~1 minute to fully incorporate everything.

Add in ~3/4 cup of the vegetable broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed (this takes ~5 minutes or less). Note: The more you stir it, the creamier it becomes and the more the sauteed eggplant incorporates with the risotto. If you want less brown color to the risotto, don't stir as much. The risotto will still be nice and creamy when it's all done.

Repeat step #8 two more times, until you've added in 2 cups worth of the broth to the risotto. Check the consistency at this point. Risotto is done when it's softened but still has a little bite to it (you don't want it to be all mush, but don't want to crunch down on uncooked rice either) and also when it cannot absorb any more liquid.

For mine, it took exactly 2 cups of broth until it reached the right consistency. Whenever it reaches the right consistency for you, add in the spinach, blended cottage cheese and most of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (reserve some for sprinkling on top of the stuffed eggplant before sticking in the oven so it can brown) and stir to thoroughly incorporate and allow the spinach to wilt.

The eggplant skins should be done right around the same time the risotto is done. Remove the eggplant from the oven, move the oven rack to the top and increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Remove the risotto from heat and allow to sit for a few minutes while the oven heats up before stuffing the eggplant (it will allow the risotto to thicken up even more).

After the risotto has thickened up a bit more and the oven is up to 450 degrees F, divide the risotto evenly among the 2 roasted eggplant halves, then sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly on top of the stuffed eggplant halves.

Place the stuffed eggplant halves in the oven (with rack at the top) and allow to cook for ~6-8 minutes, until the cheese on top has browned.

Remove from oven and let rest a couple of minutes before serving. These can be used as an appetizer, side dish or entree. A little risotto goes a long way, as it's very filling. You can eat just the risotto inside the eggplant (using the roasted skin solely for decoration), you can scoop out the roasted eggplant "meat" from inside the skin along with the risotto or you can eat the whole thing, skin and all. Some people don't like eggplant skin, so it's up to you. However you have it, just make sure not to eat the stem.