Eggplant

[zfranca]

Baked eggplant with tomato sauce--Sicilian Style-- Very tasty. After I baked it, I tossed it with the pasta.

 

[zfranca]

Another way to enjoy eggplant:
Bruschetta Sicilian style


Ingredients:
12 small slices sesame seed bread
1 eggplant
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp pepper
1 ripe tomato, peeled and diced
½ cup goat cheese crumbled
12 leaves sweet basil
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil.
fresh black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven at 375°
Bake whole eggplant for 40 minutes. Grill bread slices. Peel cooked eggplant and purée it with salt and pepper.

Spread eggplant mixture over bread slices, top with cheese and tomato and garnish with sweet basil. Drizzle olive oil over and freshly ground black pepper.

6 Servings

 

[Zhizara]

I love this recipe - reminds me a little of eggplant parmesan, but much healthier - it tastes like the eggplant is fried, but it's baked! (I increase the breadcrumbs and decrease the Parmigiano Reggiano, since it's too salty for me otherwise):
FAUX FRIED EGGPLANT
Faux Fried Eggplant Aubergine) Recipe - Food.com - 59115

Thanks, merstar. I've been looking and looking for a good eggplant recipe. This one is the one I'm going to try.

I really like that site. At least it asks me what size I'd like to print out! I see that they have a forum too so I signed up and maybe they even have a newsletter. I subscribe to several and get an occasional recipe to try.

Thanks again!

 

[zfranca]

For Thanksgiving I invited a few friends and I prepared two of my favorite appetizers: grilled eggplant with pesto sauce, and cauliflower/shrimp salad.
While I was slicing the eggplant I noticed that it was almost seedless. Is there anyway to know when you buy them if they are very seedy or almost seedless?

 

[Rocklobster]

Here is a pizza with roasted eggplant, capicolla, and chopped kale greens, and diced tomato..

 

[luckytrim]

Smothered Eggplant

Smothered Eggplant

2 lg. eggplant
Salt
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 green pepper and 1 red pepper, sliced
3 Lg. vidalia onions, sliced
Chives to taste
Oregano to taste
4 lg. ripe tomatoes
1/4 lb. sliced Provolone
8 oz. Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Slice eggplants. Salt each slice. Let sit for 15 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels. In 2 tablespoons olive oil, saute slices. Set aside.
Slice green and red pepper, onions and saute in 1 tablespoon olive oil with chives and oregano. Slice tomatoes.
In 9 x 13 inch baking pan, layer onions, eggplant slices, tomatoes and Provolone cheese. Repeat. Add more tomatoes and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That looks great! Thanks, again LT!

 

[zfranca]

Here is a pizza with roasted eggplant, capicolla, and chopped kale greens, and diced tomato..

I love pizza with grilled eggplants. We made one just a few days ago in my Junior class. The picture was taken before baking the pizza.

 

[radhuni]

I don't like eggplants, I have allergy but Indian cuisine has many eggplant dishes. The most common is eggplant fry. It is most common side dish like potato fry.

 

[joesfolk]

I can't seem to get any flavor into eggplant, even though I follow recipe instructions. I guess I am eggplant challenged!

 

[CharlieD]

I can't seem to get any flavor into eggplant, even though I follow recipe instructions. I guess I am eggplant challenged!

Try my recipe, it is fairly simple. I am adding step by step pictures.

1. Chop peppers and tomatoes and fry them up a little bit in very little olive oil and add seasoning. I like salt, paprika and cayenne pepper. And a little bit of fresh garlic.
.
2. I use food processor to chop everything finely. Also I add a little bit of bread crumbs so the mixture is not too runny. Taste and reason if necessary.
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3. Sauté or grill eggplant, salted lightly.
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4. Spread the mixture on the top of eggplant. Sprinkle some fresh chopped garlic. Serve it hot or warm.

 

[CharlieD]

Moderators, please add some tags here. There really should be an easier way to add tags.

 

[joesfolk]

Thanks. If I ever get over this cold and can actually taste again I will try that. Should I salt and drain the eggplant first? I hear that is supposed to take out some of the bitterness that eggplant can have.

 

[CWS4322]

Oh--eggplant! One of my favorite plants to have in the garden. I love the velvety leaves, the little purple flowers, watching the eggplant fruit grow into lucious, deep purple fruits...Eggplant is much aligned in North America. I use eggplant cubes in place of mushrooms in tomato sauces, I deep-fry it like you'd deep fry zucchini fingers, I make eggplant cavier, I slice it thin, bread it with egg-milk-seasoned bread crumbs and "bake it" at 400 for 15 minutes, flip it, bake another 10 minutes and use it in moussaka or eggplant paramesean (rather than frying it) (slice them really thin, and they are yummy chips--and these chips freeze well). I toss cubes of it into chili...I peel it, cube it, blanche it, and freeze it...can you tell I like eggplant?

And no, eggplant doesn't, by itself, have a lot of flavor. It acts like a sponge and absorbs the garlic, etc. in the sauces, marinades, etc. My DH, who is not an eggplant fan, has decided he does like eggplant parmesean and moussaka. And, the "eggplant" fingers or chips don't hang around very long if he's in the kitchen.

Thanks to this thread, I have more ideas of what to do with eggplant. Which, btw, is a very prolific plant in my garden..that reminds me, I'll have to start the seeds soon....time to dust off the "grow stand" and set everything up...the plants take a little longer than pepper plants to reach the size I want them to be when it is time to plant them...this year, I'm adding white eggplant and the striped ones (purple and white) to the garden. Hopefully this year's seeds will germinate, I have only been successful with Black Beauty in the past. 20 years of growing eggplant and still love it.

 

[CharlieD]

Thanks. If I ever get over this cold and can actually taste again I will try that. Should I salt and drain the eggplant first? I hear that is supposed to take out some of the bitterness that eggplant can have.

I always used to do that, but I've stopped, either I'm loosing my taste buds or it is not really bitter.

 

[violettedawn]

@ radhuni...oh, the baby looks soooo sweet!

 

[violettedawn]

My favorite eggplant dish is roasted eggplant until it is soft, and smashing it up with lemon and tahini, and some sea salt!!! I am going to the store now!!!!

 

[taxlady]

My favorite eggplant dish is roasted eggplant until it is soft, and smashing it up with lemon and tahini, and some sea salt!!! I am going to the store now!!!!

Add some garlic and you have babaganoush, a yummy dip. Don't forget to drain the eggplant for a few minutes. I forgot the last time I made it and it was a bit watery.

 

[Frenchys]

Funny pizza and picture ^^

 

[Midnight_Merlot]

I have had 2 of my BEST subs that I have EVER eaten been parm. eggplant subs..They were TO DIE FOR delicious...however, its been close to 15 yrs. since I have tried this dish. Truth is, was that it gave me awful, terrible "gas episodes"....therefor; I now avoid it like the plague, KNOWING how AWESOME it tastes...Anyone else have this happen to them, &, if so, HOW did you overcome your fear of eating eggplant W/O that awful side-affect? (again, maybe its just a "me" thing here...but...I would seriously love to give eggplant another "go", ya know?)