in the kitchen: roasted eggplant with caper salsa.

This is one of my favorite recent recipes. I love capers, but don't buy or cook with them very often. After this recipe, however, I think I'll keep a jar in my fridge at all times!

via smitten kitchen.

I saw this on Pinterest a while back and decided to give it a try. I love eggplant, and was looking for some new ways to cook it.

First I cut up the aubergine into slices.

I poured a considerable (2-3 tbsp?) of extra virgin olive oil onto the tray before arranging the eggplant slices. I lightly salted and peppered them, and stuck them into the oven at 425 degrees. This is a picture from when I was halfway through roasting them (at about 10-12 minutes) before I turned them over to finish up.

While they were roasting, I worked on my salsa. The recipe from Smitten Kitchen (shown below) gives you a lot of options for substitutions, several of which I took.

Makes about 4 appetizer/salad portions, assuming people will eat two rounds each.

Roasted Eggplant:
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds eggplant (about 2 medium), in 3/4- to 1-inch slices

Salsa:

1/2 cup chopped or crumbled ricotta salata (I used feta, which was delish)
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/3 cup finely diced red onion (I used about shallots instead)
3 seeded, diced medium tomatoes (1 1/2 cups)
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves (I used freshly chopped parsley)
2 teaspoon red wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
Freshly ground black pepper

Once the eggplant slices were done, I immediately plated them and piled a good amount of salsa on top. I kept the rest of the meal simple- pork tenderloin and white rice. I could definitely imagine eating this in the summer, fresh from the barbeque. And maybe I'll try the mint and ricotta version next time. Also ate the leftover salsa with pretzels and crusty bread in the days following (yum!)

What's your favorite eggplant recipe?

xo