Baked eggplant

Baked eggplant

When was the last time you had eggplant with your dinner? Don’t turn your nose up. I don’t know why it is that people think they don’t like eggplant, but many who say they don’t like it, have never tried it. If you haven’t tried it, give this recipe a go.

I bet you never bought one of these before, have you?

Many recipes for eggplant have you salt it down and let it drain before cooking it. I used to do that until I realized it taste great whether you do that or not, so I skip that step now. 

Do you like the flavor of olive oil? I’m referring to the real fruity flavor of a good extra virgin olive oil. If you don’t like it, skip this dish. Eggplant doesn’t have a lot of flavor on its own, but it has the ability to take on flavor, and in this dish, the flavor is olive oil.

Now, don’t go using that bargain basement olive oil on this recipe. That’s ok for fried potatoes but not for this dish. Here you need to use the best olive oil you can afford. Come on, it’s not that expensive.

1 eggplant, peeled and sliced

Olive oil, the very best you have

Cajun seasoning

2 cups of my Marinara sauce

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

Fresh ground white pepper

Preparation

Heat a large skillet until hot. Add your olive oil, about a quarter inch in depth. Start cooking the eggplant in a single layer. Season it lightly with cajun seasoning. You may notice that the eggplant will absorb the oil like a sponge. You might have to add a little more, but the eggplant will release much of the oil it absorbed back to the skillet as it browns. 

Cook the eggplant on both sides until it is limp and starts to brown and then remove it to a casserole pan or pie plate. Repeat until all the eggplant is cooked. Add the marinara sauce evenly over the eggplant in the casserole. Note: you don’t have to use marinara. Any good spaghetti sauce that you have leftover will work. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top of the sauce and give it a good grinding of white pepper.

Bake the eggplant at 350º until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese starts to brown. Remove it from the oven and grind a little more white pepper over it. You will notice that the sauce is real oily, that’s ok. That’s why you used the good olive oil. Let the eggplant sit for about ten minutes before you serve it so the cheese can set up a little.

Serving

Baked eggplant is tasty with a lot of dishes. Steaks and chops as well as roasts go well with this. I like it along side rigatoni with smokey pork, homemade bread (which is good dipped in the oily eggplant sauce) and a crisp salad. I would also open a bottle of Zinfandel to wash everything down.