- Welcome To My Italian Kitchen!
- Italian Cuisine Overview
- Pasta Types & How to Cook Pasta
- Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce {Recipe}
- Linguine alla Puttanesca {recipe}
- Bucatini all’Amatriciana {recipe}
- Penne all’Arrabbiata {recipe}
- Italian Courses {recipe}
- 10 Commandments of Italian Cooking
- Ragù alla Bolognese {recipe}
- Ragu’ with Pork {recipe}
- Ragù Napoletano {recipe}
- La Genovese {recipe}
- Pesto Genovese {recipe}
- Italian Herbs and Spices {recipe}
- My Favorite Italian Cookbooks + a Website
- Pasta and Peas {recipe}
- Pasta and Potatoes {recipe}
- Pasta and Beans {recipe}
- Pasta and Garbanzo Beans {recipe}
- Myth Busters! {and a giveaway}
- Italian Hand Gestures
- The BEST Chocolate!
- Chicken alla Cacciatora
- Breaded Chicken Cutlets {recipe}
- Pan Fried Potatoes
- Pizza at Home!!! {recipe}
- Spicy Carrots {recipe}
- Grilled Eggplant {recipe}
- Roasted Peppers {recipe}
- Macerated Strawberries {recipe}
Eggplant is one of those classic Italian vegetables. Think of Eggplant Parmigiana. So Italian, right? Sicilian cooking uses this veggie a lot and one of my favorite ways of eating it is marinated grilled eggplant.
It’s an easy recipe but it does take a little bit of time because you need to salt the slices in order to draw out the bitter liquid. Then you need to grill it. Both of those things just take time; there are no shortcuts. It’s not difficult, but it’s just not a quick fix. Like yesterday’s Spicy Carrots, this is a great make-ahead recipe because the longer it sits, the more flavorful it gets.
Marinated Grilled Eggplant
Ingredients
- 1 or two large eggplant
- olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- sliced fresh cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper
- salt
- origano
Procedure
Slice the eggplant into rounds, not too thin, salting each piece and letting it sit for about 30 mins. The bitter water will draw out.Once the liquid rises to the top, rinse the rounds and place on a hot grill. Watch the pieces as they can quickly burn. Grill on both sides then remove from heat.Layer slices with chopped garlic, a sprinkle of salt, one of origano and a few shakes of crushed red pepper and a thin stream of olive oil in a large mouth jar.
Repeat until all slices are added. Top with a final layer of oil. Let stand several hours or overnight.
The longer it sits, the more flavorful it will be.
Do you like this purple vegetable? I really do but my husband does not. He has a weird condition where his tongue and mouth burn when he eats it. My kids don’t eat it either so I either wait for my mom to make it or I’ll make a small amount just for me. Probably my all-time favorite eggplant recipe is melanzana a funghetto (mushroom-style). It’s cut into little cubes, deep fried, then mixed with a light tomato sauce. It’s delicious!! Technically it’s a side dish but it’s very similar to a pasta sauce that is famous in Catania, Sicily called Pasta alla Norma. I ate it just about every other day on my trip this summer. You could easily mix this dish with pasta and call it Norma.
See? I tell ya, I ate it a LOT!
I love eggplant and this sounds delicious!