Eggplant Tomato Relish Recipes

EGGPLANT CAPONATA (SICILIAN VERSION)

Steps:

• Toss eggplant with salt and place in a colander set over a bowl. Let sit, about 30 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add celery; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until onion is soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl using a slotted spoon.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in the skillet. Add eggplant and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in celery mixture, tomatoes, olives, capers, tomato paste, and oregano. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered until caponata is thickened, about 15 minutes.
• Season caponata with vinegar, sugar, salt, and black pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with parsley.

CAPONATA

Steps:

• Toss eggplant with salt, let drain: Toss the diced eggplant with about 2 tablespoons salt and put into a large bowl. Cover the bowl with a plate that just about fits the bowl and weigh it down with a heavy can. Let this sit for 1 hour. Drain the eggplant, rinse with fresh water and pat dry with paper towels.
• Cook onions, celery, garlic: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery, season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion begins to soften - about 5 minutes. Add the garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes more. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
• Sear the eggplant: Wipe the pan with a paper towel, turn the heat to high and add the remaining olive oil. Let this heat until the oil is nearly smoking. Add the eggplant and spread it out in as thin a layer as you can in the skillet. Let this sizzle for 1-2 minutes before stirring, then let it sit for a full minute before stirring again. Cook like this for 5-6 minutes.
• Combine with other ingredients: Add the onion-celery mixture, the tomatoes, olives, pine nuts, capers and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Add the vinegar, sugar and tomato paste and stir once more. Cook, stirring occasionally until eggplant is very soft, about 8 minutes.
• Let cool, add basil, salt, pepper: Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Mix in the basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Caponata can be refrigerated, covered, up to 5 days.

EGGPLANT-TOMATO RELISH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, stir together tomatoes, garlic cloves, cumin, and olive oil. Place eggplant on top of tomato mixture and roast until eggplant is very tender when pierced with a knife and tomato juices are thick, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool. Transfer eggplant to a cutting board and halve lengthwise. Scrape out flesh with a spoon (discarding as many seeds as possible); roughly chop flesh. Place in a large bowl. Peel and chop garlic and add to bowl. Stir in tomato mixture and red onion. Season with salt and pepper.

EGGPLANT RELISH

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Add eggplant and tomatoes. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is very soft, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add vinegar, pine nuts, olives, raisins, sugar, and capers; cook (uncovered) over medium-low heat until vegetables begin to break down, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Transfer to a shallow bowl or a rimmed baking sheet; let cool completely. Stir in parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Relish can be refrigerated, covered, up to 5 days.

EGGPLANT RELISH

Steps:

• Serving suggestion: Place the relish on toasted bread spread with sheep's milk ricotta cheese, and top with torn basil and parsley leave, then drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.
• To make the relish: Place the eggplant in a strainer set over a large bowl. Sprinkle the eggplant with salt and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to leech out the bitterness. Rinse quickly and pat dry.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, shallots, garlic, pinch of salt, and eggplant and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Add the pine nuts, raisins, red wine vinegar, and sugar. Stir to combine.

GRILLED EGGPLANT WITH FRESH RICOTTA AND GRILLED TOMATO-BASIL RELISH

Steps:

• Heat your grill to high.
• Place the tomatoes in a bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place tomatoes on the grill and grill until charred on all sides, and just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove from the grill and coarsely chop.
• Put the chopped tomatoes in a bowl, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, onion, vinegar and basil and gently mix until combined. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving. Can be made 4 hours in advance and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.
• Brush eggplant slices on both sides with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the slices on the grill and grill until golden brown and slighty charred, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn over and continue grilling until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Stir together the ricotta and parsley in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Place the grilled eggplant on a large platter and top each slice with a heaping tablespoon of the ricotta and a heaping tablespoon of the tomato relish.

EGGPLANT AND TOMATO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Season the eggplant slices with salt, and let stand for about 10 minutes. Drain off liquid.
• Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Quickly brown the eggplant slices on each side.
• Place a layer of the eggplant slices in an 8 inch square baking dish or casserole dish. Place some tomato slices over the eggplant, and then a few slices of onion. Repeat layers until you run out of eggplant. Pour balsamic vinegar over everything. In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs and remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Spread in a layer over the vegetables.
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is golden brown and the eggplant is tender.

EGGPLANT WITH TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Trim off each end of eggplant. Cut eggplant lengthwise in half. Place each half, cut side down, on flat surface and cut crosswise into half-moon shapes, each about one-third-inch thick. There should be a total of about 34 slices.
• Trim off ends of tomatoes and cut away the cores. Cut tomatoes crosswise into slices, each about one-inch thick. There should be about 32 pieces. Alternate tomato slices with eggplant slices and arrange them compactly in a baking dish.
• Combine garlic, rosemary and oregano and sprinkle over layered eggplant. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and dribble oil over all.
• Place dish in the oven and bake 30 minutes. Baste the layered eggplant with any juices that have accumulated around it. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

EGGPLANT TOMATO RELISH

Steps:

• In a colander placed over a bowl, mix eggplant, onion and salt. Let it drain for 1 hour.
• Wrap in a kitchen towel and squeeze over the sink to remove excess water. In a large saute pan over medium high heat, warm the olive oil.
• Add the eggplant-onion mix, garlic, sage, thyme and pepper and cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes.
• In another pot over medium high heat, bring the vinegar and honey to a boil. Keep hot.
• Fill jars almost to the top. Pour some of the honey mixture over the top. Seal and use good water bath canning techniques to can.

PASTA WITH EGGPLANT-TOMATO RELISH

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot. Stir in relish and reserved pasta water, then season with salt and pepper. Top with feta and serve warm or at room temperature.