Susan Feniger's Highway Meals's Romanian Sweet and Bitter Eggplant

Within the course of the tip of the summer season, eggplant tends to get the brunt of my vegetable exhaustion. By the purpose I attain for it, it may have been languishing inside the crisper drawer until a bit too shriveled to eat in any means not roasted and pureed. So after I observed a model new vogue of eggplant recipe in Susan Feniger’s Highway MealsI jumped on it.

Feniger’s recipe is an interpretation of Japanese European eggplant salad made daring with a stewed tomatoes, apple cider vinegar, and a generous scoop of brown sugar. The eggplant is salted after which coated in a shiny parsley-scallion pesto sooner than being fried in copious portions of oil. After it has been diminished to a silky, rich mannequin of its former self, the eggplant spends a quick 10 minutes stewing with the tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar. It won’t be the sexiest eggplant dish conceivable, nonetheless the last word salad is certainly a singular deal with the aubergine.

Why I picked this recipe: A model new deal with eggplant is on a regular basis welcome in my dwelling.

What labored: Salting, searing, and stewing eggplant yields a supple and silky texture, good for absorbing the flavorful tomato-vinegar mixture. The final word dish tastes good scorching, warmth, and funky, making for a versatile summer season dish.

What didn’t: The pesto coating on the eggplant caught firmly to the skillet, even when using the two tablespoons of oil suggested. A quick swap to a non-stick skillet solved the problem.

Advisable tweaks: Aside from a pan swap, I would almost certainly dial once more the sugar solely a bit (1/3 cup instead of 1/2) subsequent time. I would moreover want to attempt serving the salad with watercress, goat cheese, and sourdough bread, as Feniger suggests inside the headnote.

Susan Feniger’s Highway Meals’s Romanian Sweet and Bitter Eggplant

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2 big eggplants (about 2 kilos)
3 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
10 cloves garlic, peeled
2 bunches scallions, white and inexperienced elements, roughly chopped
1/2 bunch current Italian parsley leaves and small stems, roughly chopped (1/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Canola oil
1 (14.5-ounce) can complete peeled tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup packed darkish brown sugar

Reduce off and discard every ends of each eggplant, and decrease them lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Lay the slices out on a baking sheet, and sprinkle both aspect with the three tablespoons salt. Put apart for 20 minutes so that the salt will draw out a number of of the water from the eggplant. Then pat the eggplant dry with a dish towel.
Put the olive oil, garlic, scallions, parsley, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a meals processor, and puree until a simple paste varieties (it may resemble pesto). Unfold liberally all through both aspect of the eggplant slices.
In a giant sauté pan set over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons canola oil. Add adequate eggplant slices to cowl the underside of the pan, and prepare dinner dinner until they’re browned on both aspect and cooked by means of, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Swap the eggplant to a platter or plate. Repeat this course of with the remaining eggplant slices, together with 2 tablespoons oil for each batch. Reduce the cooked eggplant into 1-inch-wide strips.
In a saucepan set over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, vinegar, and brown sugar. Stew for 12 minutes or until the tomatoes begin breaking down. Add the eggplant strips and stir collectively. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has been cooked off. Take away from the heat and serve, or chill. This dish is also served warmth or chilly.