Finally, it seems like it’s summer here. Vancouver can’t ever brag about its early summer, but this year the cold and rainy spring seemed particularly lengthy. As soon as the weather permitted, and the tedious task of grill-cleaning was accomplished, I grilled my all time favorite vegetable. I love to layer freshly grilled, hot eggplant slices with garlic-balsamic-evoo dressing and fresh basil. Then I quickly toast a sourdough bread and serve it spread with goat cheese and topped with the eggplant. It is a great meal of its own. Good wine is a must, though.
Serves about 8-12 as an appetizer
Ingredients:
- 4 to 5 medium globe eggplants, or about 6-7 thin Japanese ones
- Coarse salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil for brushing over the slices prior grilling
- 2 large garlic cloves, put through a garlic press
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly coarsely ground black pepper
- Fresh basil, finely chopped (about ½ heaped cup)
- Good quality artisan Italian sourdough, thickly sliced for serving
- Soft goat cheese for serving
Preparation:
First, make the dressing. Combine the smashed garlic with the salt in a bowl. Using a mortar pestle, work it into a paste. Add the balsamic vinegar, then gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season with the freshly ground pepper. Cover, set aside.
Start working on the eggplants about 2-3 hours before grilling. Wash the eggplants, cut off the tops and bottoms. Slice the globe eggplants into rounds slightly less than 1/2-inch thick. Slice the Japanese eggplants diagonally. Take a large colander or sieve and place it over the sink. Put the eggplant slices into the colander in layers, generously sprinkling each layer with the coarse salt. Cover with plastic wrap, place a plate or a removable tart pan bottom over the top of the eggplant slices. Fill a mason jar or a large liquid-measuring cup with water and place onto the plate as weight. Leave for a couple of hours. It might seem like an extra-step, but it does completely eliminate any bitterness; and it’s especially important when dealing with regular, globe eggplants. The young Japanese ones are almost never bitter, so you can proceed with grilling right away.
Wash the slices under running water to get rid of bitter juice and excess of salt. Pat them dry with paper towels. Arrange the slices in a single layer on a large baking sheet (line the sheet with foil, if you don’t want to wash it later) and brush both sides generously with extra-virgin olive oil. No need to salt if you let them sit, salted, in the colander; they are gonna be salty enough. Otherwise, sprinkle the slices with some salt.
Preheat the grill to medium heat. Brush or spray the racks with oil. Grill the eggplants, in batches, on both sides until the attractive grill marks appear, about 8 to 10 minutes per side. The time needed depends on your grill, so check it now and then, but try not to disturb the slices too early, or they’ll stick.
As soon as the first batch is ready, arrange the grilled slices onto the serving platter in layers, generously topping every single layer with the dressing (rewhisk before using) and sprinkling the fresh basil over. Repeat layering until all eggplants are grilled.
Toast the bread again until the grill marks appear, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Serve the warm bread spread with the goat cheese and topped with the eggplant.
Any eggplant leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator, covered, for a couple of days. Bring to room temperature before serving.
The eggplant is also delicious with fresh cilantro, instead of basil.
October 6, 2011 at 2:57 am
Easy Peasy… bruschette are one of my fav obsession.
September 1, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Wow…great blog and great pics. Loved it:)
August 28, 2011 at 7:52 am
Oh man. We have more fruit setting than I care to count on our eggplant plant. I know what I’M doing!
August 5, 2011 at 8:11 am
excellent appetizer good taste in food
July 25, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Thank you, everyone, for the kind words!
Valerie, thank you. I’m so glad you liked the mascarpone.
July 17, 2011 at 12:42 am
I think you’re a great baker and a great photographer! Last night i’ve made a tiramisu and i took your mascarpone recipe, i don’t know if it was because of your recipe or what but it was delicious!! I’m staying in your kitchen, that would be an error if you publish something new and i miss it!
July 15, 2011 at 9:02 am
Eggplant is my favorite grilled vegetable too! I didn’t know that you should soak the eggplant to remove the bitterness; I never even noticed the bitterness. I’ll have to try this method and see if I can taste the difference. The thought of goat cheese alone is making my mouth water.
July 12, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Thank you for the eggplant grilling info! Eggplant grows really well in my garden for some reason and I always have more then I know what to do with. How much eggplant parm can one family eat?
July 12, 2011 at 4:06 am
Love goat cheese.
Love grilled egg plant.
Love this combo!
July 11, 2011 at 4:25 am
My sort of yummy quick food – great for lunch.
July 4, 2011 at 7:02 pm
This sounds amazing. The eggplant looks delish!
July 1, 2011 at 10:22 am
Ooh, I’ve got some egplant in my fridge just crying out for some goats cheese and sourdough! Thanks for making dinner for me. =)
June 27, 2011 at 2:17 pm
This looks absolutely yummy. I just might try this for the summer. I have a little stove-top grill that will do the job nicely. ^^
June 27, 2011 at 11:54 am
This is undoubtedly my favorite way to prepare eggplant too! I don’t think I’ve ever tried it with goat cheese but that’s another favorite so I’ll have to give this a go!
June 27, 2011 at 3:55 am
Looks so gud ..fab pics ….yum
June 26, 2011 at 9:47 pm
That is also something I love to make during the summer. Perfect on bread and with goat’s cheese!
Cheers,
Rosa