One of the most versatile and popular vegetables is aubergine or as our neighbours across the pond would call it; eggplant. So how do you cook Aubergine? Below we have 6 recipes for you to try out:
Aubergine Meatballs
- 4 – 6 Servings
- Preparation time: 25 minutes
- Cooking time: 1 hour and 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 750g aubergine, washed
- Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
- 100g breadcrumbs + 40 g for coating
- 100g Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese, grated
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped
- A pinch of oregano
- White pepper, to taste
- Salt, to taste
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place aubergines on the baking sheet and brush them with extra virgin olive oil.
- Bake them for 45 to 50 minutes.
- Remove aubergines from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes.
- Peel aubergines and place the pulp in a bowl. Mash well with a potato masher.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well to combine.
- Form small walnut-size balls with your hands and pass each ball into breadcrumbs.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan.
- Fry 4 to 5 meatballs at a time until lightly golden brown.
- Place them on kitchen paper to remove the excess oil.
- Serve and enjoy.
Additional tips
- Add more breadcrumbs if the mixture is not compact enough.
- You can also bake aubergine meatballs in the oven at 180°C for approx. 20 minutes or until golden brown, turning them once after 10 minutes.
- If served as an appetizer, place them on a plate with a sauce you prefer. You can prepare tomato sauce with aromatic herbs, sweet Dijon, or Greek yoghurt with honey sauce.
Cordon bleu Aubergines
- 4 Servings
- Preparation time: 25 minutes
- Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 250g aubergines, washed and sliced into 0.8 – 1 cm slices
- 150g roasted ham, sliced
- 100g smoked cheese, sliced
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- Breadcrumbs, for coating
- Flour, for coating
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
- Season each aubergine slice with salt on both sides. Place them on an oven rack over the sink. Let them rest for 45 minutes.
- Rinse aubergine slices under cold running water and dry well each slice.
- Season beaten eggs with garlic and onion powder, salt, and black pepper.
- Place one slice of roasted ham and smoked cheese on an aubergine slice and cover with another aubergine slice.
- Pass it first in flour, then in beaten eggs, and finally coat with breadcrumbs.
- Repeat with the rest of the slices.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large pan and fry one aubergine cordon bleu at a time.
- Transfer on kitchen paper when golden brown.
- Serve and enjoy.
Additional tips
- You can prepare this recipe in the oven too. Preheat the oven to 190°C and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
- Serve with fresh salad, basil-tomato sauce, or oven-baked potato or pumpkin chips.
Simple Caponata
- 6 Servings
- Preparation time: 25 minutes
- Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 800g aubergines, diced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
- 2 large white onions, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
- 200ml tomato sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoon pine nuts, toasted
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 3-4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Water, as needed
Instructions
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Add sliced onions and cook until lightly golden. You can add some water if needed.
- Add mince garlic and cook for one minute.
- Add aubergines and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add bell peppers and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
- Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.
- Cook for 30 – 40 minutes over medium-low heat.
- Add some water when needed and stir.
- Remove from the heat, add pine nuts and stir well.
- Serve and enjoy.
Additional tips
- You can add capers, olives, and celery, to enrich the dish, like in the original recipe.
- Serve with meat dishes, or you can mix it with pasta.
- You can refrigerate it in an air-tight container for up to 4 days.
Stuffed Aubergines
- 4 Servings
- Preparation time: 20 minutes
- Cooking time: 28 -30 minutes
Ingredients
- 4 aubergines, cut in half (lengthwise)
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 garlic cloves
- 100 g quinoa
- 20 cherry tomatoes, cut in quarters
- 1 cucumber, diced
- 50g feta cheese
- 15 black olives, cut into rounds
- Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- Salt, to taste
- White pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190° Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the pulp with a knife in several points. Place aubergine halves on a lined baking sheet with cut-side up.
- Spray them with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt, white pepper, and rosemary.
- Bake for 18 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook quinoa as indicated on the package instructions. Drain and transfer it into a mixing bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixing bowl.
- Remove aubergines from the oven. Scoop out the pulp and place it in the mixing bowl with other ingredients.
- Season with salt, white pepper, and extra virgin olive oil. Mix well to combine.
- Fill aubergines with the quinoa mixture.
- Serve and enjoy.
Additional tips
- Scoop the pulp gently without perforating the aubergine skin.
- You can decorate it with fresh basil leaves.
- If you like crunchy texture, you can add chopped nuts like almonds or walnuts.
Aubergine Pesto
- 4 Servings
- Preparation time: 10 minutes
- Cooking time: 45 – 50 minutes
Ingredients
- 800g aubergines, washed and dried
- 70g pine nuts
- 40g Grana Padano, grated
- 60ml extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- White pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place aubergines on the baking sheet and bake for 45 – 50 minutes.
- Remove aubergines from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes.
- Cut them in half and scoop out the pulp with a spoon.
- Transfer the pulp to a high-speed blender and add the rest of the ingredients.
- Blend until you get a homogeneous mixture.
- Serve and enjoy.
Additional tips
- You can mix this pesto with pasta and add other ingredients to enrich the flavours.
- You can chop pine nuts and add them at the end. That way, the pesto will have a crunchy texture that combines perfectly with creamy aubergine pesto.
- Use this pesto as a base for serving shrimps or lamb meat. Enrich it with aromatic herbs like rosemary, thyme, or basil.
Aubergine Pizza Appetizer
- 4 Servings
- Preparation time: 10 minutes
- Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 large aubergine, cut into 1 cm slices
- 150g tomato sauce
- 150g dry mozzarella, diced
- Fresh basil leaves
- Oregano, to taste
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170° Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat grill pan over high heat and grill aubergine slices for 2 minutes per side.
- Season tomato sauce with basil leaves, salt, and extra virgin olive oil.
- Arrange aubergine slices on the baking sheet.
- Spread some tomato sauce on each slice. Top with mozzarella.
- Bake until the mozzarella has melted.
- Serve and enjoy.
Additional tips
- This recipe is a delicious and versatile appetizer everyone will love. You can enrich it with a wide variety of ingredients like anchovies, black olives, tuna, onions, or other types of cheese.
- Be careful when slicing aubergines not to cut them too thin. Grill the slices until the dark grilling lines appear.
