I bought an eggplant... now what?

Eggplant is better if you sweat it first. Cut it up then sprinkle with salt. Let sit for thirty minutes then rinse to remove salt. Then prepare as normal

I've found this isn't really necessary. I always used to do it and because of the time involved I rarely ate it (I like meals that don't require prep a long time in advance). But I made a baked eggplant parmesan from a recipe I found on marthastewart.com which didn't require sweating it first and it tasted great. It wasn't bitter at all and my toddlers loved it.

Wonderful ideas - thank you

Throw it away! Bleh, I hate those things. Lol.

My thoughts EXACTLY!!! :laugh:

Now you're making me wish I'd gotten eggplant today! I had some really good eggplant and tofu at Ruby Thai Kitchen one night and tried to make it at home. I really had no idea how they made it, but I cubed the tofu and cut the eggplant in thin slices and then cut the slices in 4s. Added a tablespoon of sesame chili oil to a wok on high heat, then added the tofu and eggplant and 1/4 c low sodium soy sauce. It turned out really well. I'm not very imaginative in the kitchen!

Someone had mentioned zucchini lasagna. My mom made that when I was younger, and it's what actually got me liking zucchini. It was awesome, and you don't miss the noodles! I'll have to come back here to try some of the posted recipes.

I also sweat my eggplant before cooking it. Rinse it well before you cook it to remove the salt.

My favorite way is roasted with other veggies - mushrooms, onions, bell pepper, zucchini, asparagus, whatever I have on hand that sounds yummy. I drizzle it with a little olive or grapeseed oil and sprinkle with herbs - my favorite is a Greek herb blend - and a little bit of salt and pepper. Roast at 400, stirring every 10-15 minutes until the veggies are soft, but not mushy.

My second favorite way to eat it is in ratatouille! Yum! Over some whole wheat couscous....mmmmmm!

mmm.... I had moussaka for dinner tonight and it's total comfort food! My mom got the recipe in a diabetic cookbook and it's fabulous. I haven't found any similar recipes online at a glance tonight, though. Send me a message if you want me to look up the recipe. It layers baked eggplant (just slice and sprinkle with garlic powder and bake- no oil), tomato meat sauce (with ginger & cinnamon-yum!) and a white sauce (with parmasan cheese). Plus it's somewhere around 300calories a piece!

You should try www.skinnytaste.com she has TONS of DELICIOU low cal recipes for all types of foods.... EVEN EGGPLANT!

I always make the Eggplant Parmesan from her site and it is SO delicious people actually ask me to make it for their family for dinner!
Here's the link for the recipe:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/03/lighter-eggplant-parmesan-5-pts.html

Here's the ACTUAL recipe from Skinnytaste.com

Lighter Eggplant Parmesan
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 servings • Time: 60 minutes • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 8 pts
Calories: 265.3 • Fat: 12.4 g • Protein: 14.1 g • Carb: 35.4 g • Fiber: 4.4 g

1 large eggplant (2 lbs)
1 tbsp olive oil
12 oz fat free ricotta
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 medium egg
2 cups reduced fat mozzarella (I used Sargento)
3 cups homemade tomato sauce
salt


Start by making the sauce if you don't have any already made. While the sauce simmers, slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. Lightly salt the slices and put in a colander to release excess moisture for about 1/2 hour. Lay on paper towels to soak up any extra moisture.

Preheat oven to 450°. Brush eggplant lightly with olive oil on both sides and place on cookie sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning half way through until eggplant is golden brown.

In a medium bowl combine ricotta, egg, parsley and 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

In a 9x12 baking dish, put a little sauce on the bottom of the dish and put a layer of eggplant to cover the bottom of the dish. Top with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese and sauce. Add another layer of eggplant and repeat the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and sauce until everything is used up. Top with sauce and the mozzarella cheese and the remaining grated cheese.

Cover with foil and bake until cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, about 30 minutes at 400°. Remove foil and bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Take it out of the oven and let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

I have used eggplant in lasagna in my first attempt at it. I alternated eggplant and noodles. It was great.

I have a yummy pasta recipe I got from an italian guy I know. It is really easy.
1. cut the eggplant into small cubes.
2. chop a whole onion
3. Add about 4 tbs of olive oil to a pan with the onion, and cook the onions till soft.
4. Add the cubed eggplant, reduce the heat to medium low. Add about half a cup of water. Cook the eggplant for around 20 minutes. Check in and make sure it isn't too dry in the pan once in a while.
5. Once the eggplant has completely cooked down, and seems squishy, mash it with a spoon or whatever.
6. Pour in a 28 oz can or jar of crushed tomatoes (crushed are the best!)
7. Add about 1 teaspoon of dried basil and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Cook the eggplant tomato mixture for around 20 minutes till the flavors come together. It will smell both sweet and savory when done. This will reduce a bit and become nice and thick.
9. Check for seasoning, you may need a bit more basil or salt or pepper.
10. Take it off the heat, and make your pasta. Penne is a perfect shape for this.
11. Once your pasta is done, take a few tablespoons of sauce, add some ricotta cheese, about 2-3 tablespoons, and add 1 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil to each individual serving.

** you can mix in the whole 16 oz package of ricotta, but then the sauce doesn't heat up well. So I stop at the tomato sauce phase, and ricotta at the table. Without ricotta it is perfect for the freezer. And, it is really good without the cheese if you are vegan. Don't skip the extra olive oil...it really rounds out the flavors. If you are making it for a crowd, then yo can mix more of the pasta and sauce. This sauce is also an excellent base for some lasagna.

Here is a short version of the same idea: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rigatoni-with-Eggplant-Tomato-and-Ricotta-15837

lol I was gonna buy one the other day, they had them cheap in the store but ended up puttting it back because I wasn't sure what to do with it. Next time I will get one, after reading all these ideas

Here's my recipe for Involtini di Melanzane :

http://icanyoucanwecan-blog.blogspot.com/2011/07/recipericetta-amazing-involtini-di.html

It's really easy and utterly delicious! :bigsmile:

Also, this is how I make Melanzane al Forno con Pecorino:

For four-ish people…depends on how hungry they are!

.5L sugo (recipe here: http://icanyoucanwecan-blog.blogspot.com/2011/06/recipericetta-scrumptious-sugo-pomodoro.html)
2-3 medium-large aubergines (melanzane)
Plain flour
Seasoning (sea-salt, freshly cracked black pepper)
2 beaten eggs
Oil for frying (use olive oil if shallow-frying, corn or rapeseed for deep-frying)
300-400g Mozzarella - up to you which type you use. I find some are a bit too flaccid for my liking - Burrata from Puglia is one. My all-time favourites come from Campania, and I prefer them very fresh, when they are at their most elastic. Mozzarella gets softer and creamier as it matures, which can be nice, but for this recipe, I find a more stretchy mozzarella works better. If you want to try something different, Provola is a wonderful smoked mozzarella.
Pecorino - Pecorino Toscano is my favourite (from Toscano/Tuscany) but you can also get P.Romano (from Roma), P.Sardo (from Sardinia) and P.di Pienza (from Siena). I think most people in the UK use Parmigiano (much easier to get hold of in the supermarkets here!), but I prefer Pecorino because it has a deeper flavour.

First, prepare your melanzane by slicing them quite thickly (1cm-1.5cm thick). Put them in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Weigh them down (I use a side plate, with a heavy cast-iron pan on top) and leave in the sink for half an hour or so (the salt will extract any bitterness, making the aubergines ‘sweat’).

Turn the oven on - a medium-high heat is fine (mine is in Celsius, so I generally have it about 175).

If you haven’t already made your sugo, do it now! If you have, congratulations! Put your feet up with a good book and a glass of wine for half an hour!

Once the melanzana is ready, rinse well and pat dry with a clean tea-towel or kitchen roll. At this point, you can also do the same with the mozzarella - rinse it, and dry it. Leave it wrapped up, and put to one side for now.

Time to pre-cook the melanzana! If you’re deep-frying, put the oil on to heat up now. If shallow-frying, it can wait a bit.

By far the easiest and least messy way of flouring the melanzana is to put the flour into a large plastic bag, along with the seasoning, dip the slices into the beaten egg, then add to the bag; hold the top of the bag closed, and shake it all up. If you really enjoy getting messy, you can take each slice, dip it into the egg, then into the flour yawn!….but of course, you’ll then get eggy-floury goo all over your hands and wine glass! And I can almost guarantee your ‘phone will ring too!

Anywayyyy….

Once your melanzana is egged and floured, it’s time to lightly fry it. You want it just turning golden, and it’s best to do it a few slices at a time. If you don’t, there’ll be too much steam and the melanzana will just be soggy. You’re basically aiming to give each slice a little fried coat, not to actually cook it!

Unwrap the mozzarella and cut it into about .5cm slices. Grate the pecorino too.

Now you can build the dish (I find a lasagne dish is best but don’t worry if you don’t have one - any ovenproof container at least 7cm deep would be fine). Start with a thin layer of sugo, add a layer of melanzana, then a layer of sugo, then a layer of mozzarella. Continue this way, finishing with a layer of sugo. Finally, sprinkle your grated pecorino on the top (how much you use is entirely up to you - I like a thin ‘crust’ but some people like to be more frugal, and some like a thick crust), and place in the oven for about 45 mins. Do check it though because as we know, all ovens are not created equal - you don’t want it to burn. The dish is cooked when it is starting to brown on top and the melanzana is soft. (Note: undercooked melanzane are *antipatica* (nasty!), so do make sure they really are very soft).

I serve this with a simple insalata verde (green salad; rocket, baby spinaci, watercress, and a little bit of sorrel to give a bit of zing), some fresh crusty bread, extra virgin olive oil (for dipping the bread in), and a good red wine (Valpolicella is a lovely every day wine but I find that in the UK it’s hard to get it young, which I prefer. In Venexia I tend to have it with every meal…well, not breakfast! If I’m splashing out a bit, I go for a Barolo!).

And that’s it! It may sound like a bit of faffing around but honestly, it’s really worth the effort, and if you’ve already made your sugo, half the work is done.

I have tried to make lower-fat versions (brushing the melanzana with oil then grilling - not as much depth of flavour and richness; just coating with flour but no pre-grilling or frying - completely lame! Thin and bland.) but honestly, it’s not something you’d eat every day of the week, so I don’t see it as a problem to have the fully-leaded version! I cook it about once a month, maybe once every six weeks. I can live with that!

Buon appetito! :bigsmile:

I also love to have melanzana in curries - brinjal bhaji is one of my favourites.

Imam bayildi! (Translates to the Imam Fainted) - A turkish food.

Recipe is here: http://www.whats4eats.com/vegetables/imam-bayildi-recipe

I love eggplant. Eggplant Parmesan is very good. I have no idea how to make though.

Ummm...see my post immediately above yours for the recipe!

It's not Parmesan - it's parmigiana....has nothing at all to do with Parmigiano! :bigsmile:

The dish is popularly known as Parmigiana Melanzane, which most non-Italians erroneously believe comes from the use of the hard cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano. However, the name actually reflects the arrangement of the melanzana; since each slice slightly overlaps the previous, it resembles the slats on a wooden shutter. :happy:

In dialetto siciliano, 'parmiciana' means 'wooden shutter slats', while 'palmigiana' is the shutter itself. Parmigiana is merely a corruption of these two words, and nothing to do with the cheese! In addition, Parmigiano-Reggiano *only* comes from the northern Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna & Lombardia, so it's highly unlikely that it would form part of a southern culinary tradition!

That looks really cool. Going to have to do this sometime.

I love eggplant so I though I'd share this recipe with you guys. It's like a souffle and served with a green salad.

INGREDIENTS FOR EGGPLANT
2 fairly large eggplant
olive oil for brushing eggplant surfaces
Sea salt and pepper
3 large eggs
1/4 cup of milk or cream
4 oz of chevre (goat cheese) crumbled.
1 tbsp of fresh oregano...mixed into the goat cheese.

INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD.
12 small tomato's....cherry, pear, heirloom
handful of greens, your choice
2 tbsps of evoo
1 tbsp of vinegar.....balsamic or white wine
2 cloves of roasted garic or 1 clove of fresh minced.
salt and pepper.

METHOD FOR EGGPLANT
Heat oven to 400. Slice 1 eggplant lengthwise 1/4" and brush with olive oil and cook in the oven until soft. Turn oven down to 375. Cut the other eggplant in half lengthwise and brush cut side with olive oil and cook on a sheet pan in the oven until very soft, about 35 minutes. Scrape the flesh from the eggplant halves into a bowl, let cool as bit. Add the eggs and milk and season with salt and pepper. Line 4 to 6 ramekins or muffin tins, which is what I did, with the eggplant slices leaving so they overhang a little. Spoon in some eggplant mixture (half way up) add the goat cheese and add more eggplant mixture.....fold the eggplant slices over to cover. Set on a baking sheet and cook for 20 minutes, and then let it rest for 10 minutes.
METHOD FOR SALAD
Cut tomato's into quarters or halves, your call. Mix the oil and vinegar and the garlic to make a dressing. Mix greens, tomato's and dressing together and season with salt and pepper.

PRESENTATION
Turn out the eggplant souffles and serve a large spoonful of the tomato salad along side.

Try baba ganoush, a lebanese dip:

- Roast the aubergine, a sliced onion and 3 garlic cloves with a tbsp olive oil until the aubergine is cooked and the onion is caramelised.

- Scrape the flesh out of the skin and blend it with the oil, onion and garlic.

- Season with salt, tahini, ground cumin, lemon juice to taste.

Calories: about 2 per gram - but you can work out your own for accuracy

Thanks SO much for this, I love baba ganoush, and we always have it when we're in the Middle East, but I have never known exactly how to make it. I bet I could do a really really healthy version YUM!

I'm rather happy at that thought.. :bigsmile:

EDITED TO ASK: Do you roast the aubergine whole, or cut it in half / quarters? And er... how do you know when the aubergine is cooked enough?

Sorry for the delay, I don't check these boards often.

I cut the aubergine in half and roast it with the sliced side up (rubbed slightly in oil and salt). I know it's cooked when I poke it and it's slimy. Yum!

roasted eggplant soup!! its really good (had it for the first time the other day at work)