ingredients
? 3 large firm aubergines
? olive oil
? 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
? 1/2 a bulb of spring garlic, if you can get it, or 1 clove of regular garlic, peeled and finely sliced
? 1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
? 2 x 400g tins good-quality plum tomatoes or 1kg fresh ripe tomatoes
? sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
? a little wine vinegar
? a large handful of fresh basil
? 4 large handfuls of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
? 2 handfuls of dried breadcrumbs
? a little fresh oregano, leaves chopped
optional:
? 1 x 150g ball of buffalo mozzarella
First things first: remove the stalks from the aubergines, slice them up into 1cm thick slices, and put to one side. Whether you?re using a griddle pan or a barbecue, get it really hot. Meanwhile, put 2 or 3 glugs of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the garlic has a tiny bit of colour. If you?re using tinned tomatoes, break them up, and if you?re using fresh tomatoes (which will obviously taste sweeter and more delicious, if they?re in season), very quickly ***** each one and put them into a big pan of boiling water for 40 seconds. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put them into a bowl of cold water for 30 seconds, then remove the skins, carefully squeeze out the pips and cut up the flesh. Add the tomato flesh or tinned tomatoes to the onion, garlic and oregano. Give the mixture a good stir, then put a lid on the pan and simmer slowly for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, grill the aubergines on both sides until lightly charred ? you may have to do them in batches, as they probably won?t all fit into your griddle pan in one go. As each batch is finished, remove them to a tray and carry on grilling the rest until they?re all nicely done. When the tomato sauce is reduced and sweet, season it carefully with salt, pepper and a tiny swig of wine vinegar, and add the basil. You can leave the sauce chunky or you can pur?e it.
Get yourself an earthenware type dish (25 x 12?15cm). Put in a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin scattering of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat these layers until you?ve used all the ingredients up, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan. I like to toss the breadcrumbs in olive oil with a little freshly chopped oregano and sprinkle them on top of the Parmesan. Sometimes the dish is served with torn-up mozzarella on top, which is nice too.
Place the dish in the oven and bake at 190?C/375?F/gas 5 for half an hour until golden, crisp and bubbly. It?s best eaten straight away, but it can also be served cold. You can use the same method substituting courgettes or fennel for the aubergines ? both are delicious. But do try making it with aubergines ? you?ll love it!
2. Melanzane Sott'Olio - Pickled Eggplant under Oil
This is a wonderful thing to have lurking in the store cupboard, it is one of the great anti-pasti.
2 large eggplants
Wine vinegar (white or red)
Garlic
Spices (oregano, crushed hot pepper, sage, parsley, etc.)
1. Cut the ends off the eggplant and slice very thinly (peel if desired). I prefer rounds but many prefer to slice a big one lengthwise. If you have a mandoline, this would be a perfect time to use it! Layer the slices in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt. Put a weight on the slices to press down. I use a plate and a kilo or two of sugar/flour.
2. Leave them overnight like this, or several hours during the day. Remove excess salt and squeeze them dry.
3. In a large saucepan, bring a mixture of 1/2 water, 1/2 vinegar to a boil. *NB: You only need a couple of inches of liquid since you?re going to be boiling in batches. You can also use 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 vinegar if you don?t have that much on hand. Include a few cloves of garlic in the water if desired.
4. Cook batches of eggplant slices for about two minutes each, remove from the mixture and set aside. You can either leave to dry on an absorbent towel for 30 minutes or squeeze excess moisture from the slices directly.
5. Use the best quality oil you can find, and begin to layer the oil and eggplants in clean jars with your selection of spices. I use some oregano and hot pepper flakes.
6. Seal the jars, ensuring that everything is covered with oil and leave for a couple of days to let the flavours infuse.
3. Pasta con Melanzane, Zucchine e Pinoli
1 quite large eggplant
2 medium zucchini
3-4 tblsp pine nuts
1 clove of garlic
1 dried peperoncino
Salt
Olive oil
- Dice the eggplant and the zucchini.
- Heat the oil together with the garlic and the crumbled peperoncino and after a minute you add the diced eggplant, sprinkle them with the salt and fry them gently until it?s beginning to get golden. Stir often
- Now it?s time to add the diced zucchini and some more salt. Stir often. When these are getting golden, you add the pine nuts and stir some more.
- Mix it with the pasta or whatever you want to eat it with or eat it as a side dish.
4. Polpette di Melanzane - Eggplant Meatballs
2 tablespoons salt
3 large eggplants, to yield about 4 pounds, peeled and cut into quarters lengthwise
4 slices day-old bread
1 to 2 eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino, plus 1/4 cup
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped to yield 1/4 cup
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Add the eggplants and boil 10 minutes. Dip the bread in the water and remove, squeezing to drain the water and set aside. Remove the eggplants from the water and drain well. When the eggplants have cooled, coarsely chop them and place them in the work bowl of a food processor. Add the soaked bread and 1 egg and pulse to form a somewhat homogenous paste adding more egg, if necessary. Add 1/2 cup pecorino, garlic and parsley and continue to pulse until a smooth yet somewhat dry mixture is formed. Do not over-process.
Turn the mixture into a mixing bowl and place bread crumbs on a large plate. Using your hands and working quickly, roll the eggplant mixture into balls with a 1/2-inch diameter and roll each ball in the bread crumbs to coat. Hold each ball on a sheet tray.
In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil until just smoking. Cook the eggplant balls in the oil a few at a time, for 6 to 7 minutes, until dark golden brown, turning gently with a wooden spoon to evenly brown all sides. Remove to a tray or plate lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with the remaining pecorino and serve.
5. Eggplant and Spaghetti Timballo
A timballo is a pasta pie, this one use eggplant instead of dough...
Ingredients:
* 2 large eggplant
* 350g spaghetti
* 400g of tomatoes
* 150g salted ricotta, shredded (Salted ricotta is firm, and should be available in a well stocked delicatesse
* If it is not, use pecorini romano
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 20 basil leaves
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* Salt
Preparation:
Wash the eggplant and cut them lengthwise into half-inch slices. Put the slices in a colander, salting each layer, and set the colander in the sink for an hour to allow the salt to draw the juices from the eggplant.
Saut? the garlic in 3 tablespoons of oil until it begins to turn golden, then remove and discard it. Crumble the tomatoes into the pan and cook over a brisk flame for 15 minutes, mixing often. Turn off the flame and let the sauce cool.
Pat the slices of eggplant dry and broil them, turning them so both sides are golden.
Cook the pasta in abundant salted water until it reaches the firm al dente stage, and drain it. Combine it with the tomato sauce and 4 ounces of the grated ricotta and set it aside.
Preheat your oven to 180
Take a round 18-20cm high-sided pie plate, line it with oven paper, and then arrange the eggplant slices to cover the bottom and come up over the sides. Fill the eggplant "crust" with the pasta, fold the eggplant slices over the top of the pie, and use the remaining slices to form a top crust. Press down firmly with your finger tips to level the surface of the pie, drizzle the remaining oil over it, and bake the pie for 20 minutes.
Let the timballo cool, cover the top with aluminum foil, and keep it at room temperature until you plan to serve it (don't make it too far ahead). Turn it out onto a serving dish, and slice it, sprinkling the remaining shredded ricotta over it.
6. Eggplant Caponata
This is one of my favourite eggplant dishes - let it cool and eat it at room temperature - it is sweet and sour, sharp and salty - just wonderful.
2 medium aubergines
4 large ripe tomatoes
1 onion
1 green capsicum
2 celery stalks
10 green olives
1/4 cup capers
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup slivered almonds
pinch cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
extra virgin olive oil as needed
Peel the aubergines and cut off the stems. Chop the flesh into 1 inch cubes, place the pieces in salted water for thirty minutes, then strain, rinse and pat dry.
Cut a shallow cross into the skin at the base of each tomato. Put the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for 1 minute, then remove with a slotted spoon. Slip the skins off, then slice in half, remove the seeds, and chop the flesh coarsely. Slice the celery stalks into half-inch pieces, put them in the pot of boiling water and simmer for 3-5 minutes, then strain and set aside.
Press the olives with the flat of a knife to crack them, and remove the pits. Chop the olives roughly. Rinse the capers. Chop the onion and capsicum. Rehydrate the currants in a small bowl of warm water. Dissolve the sugar in the red wine vinegar in a small glass.
Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large pan over moderately high heat and stir-fry the eggplant until soft and lightly golden. Transfer the eggplant onto a plate and layer with paper towels to absorb the oil.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over moderate heat and fry the onion and capsicum for several minutes, then add the tomatoes, celery, olives, capers, currants, almonds, cinnamon and cocoa. Lower the heat and simmer until excess liquid has evaporated. Add the fried eggplant then stir in the sweetened red wine vinegar. Remove from the burner, place the caponata in a bowl, and let cool to room temperature before serving with a good hunk of crusty bread.
Those should get you started.....let me know what sort of food you like and I'll come up with recipes to match - lots of great asian, french and med dishes for aubergine.
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