Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Oven Roasted Eggplant (aubergine) Recipe
This can be a recipe for how one can roast eggplant within the oven so each bit is plump and juicy on the within, and superbly caramelised on the surface. By no means once more endure by means of a tray of mushy mess!
The quickest strategy to elevate (virtually) any vegetable is to roast it. And eggplant isn’t any exception! It’s nothing fascinating when uncooked – fairly tasteless really.
However whenever you give it blast in a scorching oven, it utterly transforms. That second whenever you chunk by means of the beautiful caramelised edges and the juicy flesh inside bursts in your mouth… UGH! So good!
Todays recipe is for roasting eggplant cubes. The 2 different widespread methods to roast eggplant is minimize in half (like boats – right here’s a recipe) or sliced into rounds (see this recipe).
Cross my coronary heart, you don’t want something greater than salt, pepper and olive oil to roast eggplant. The caramelisation provides tons of flavour!
A standard drawback folks run into when roasting eggplant cubes is that they flip into mush earlier than they caramelise. Been there, performed that!
The important thing to repair that is easy:
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minimize into giant items – smaller items prepare dinner too rapidly and switch into mush earlier than the surface has an opportunity to caramelise; and
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roast at a excessive temperature so the floor will get “sealed” and holds within the juice inside.
The opposite drawback some folks have is that after they go to flip or serve the eggplant cubes, the caramelised pores and skin comes off. This occurs if:
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you’ve skimped on the oil; or
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the flip you employ doesn’t have a sharpish edge.
So if you happen to’re a roasted eggplant beginner, parchment / baking paper is very really useful – it will make sure you don’t lose any of that caramelised pores and skin! (Severely, it should make you cry if all of it will get caught on the pan)
So with that mentioned and performed, right here is how one can minimize and roast eggplant:
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minimize into thick 3cm / 1.2″ slices, then minimize every slice into items to type cubes / rectangles
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drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper then toss effectively in a bowl utilizing a rubber spatula
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unfold out on tray and bake at 240°C/ 450°F for 20 minutes, flip, then for an additional 10 minutes, till the eggplant is tremendous delicate and caramelised on the perimeters
Peeling – if you happen to’re bothered by eggplant pores and skin (which I’m not – I don’t discover it in any respect chewy), peel “zebra tripes” down the eggplant like this. In the event you don’t go away at the very least some pores and skin on, then the eggplant cubes are liable to collapsing and turning into mush – you want some pores and skin to carry it collectively.
Bitterness & salting – Prior to now, the usual preparation technique for eggplant together with salting the eggplant to take away bitterness. The eggplant of right this moment has largely had the bitterness bred out of it so until you will have a really previous, very giant one, you shouldn’t have this drawback. I by no means have, and I solely salt eggplant for particular recipes (like Greek Moussaka).
Nevertheless, if you happen to can’t get your head round cooking eggplant with out salting it, right here’s how: sprinkle the cubed eggplant with 1 tsp salt, toss, go away in colander for half-hour. Rinse then totally pat dry, toss with oil and pepper (NO SALT), roast per recipe.
Choose eggplants which are agency however have a little bit of give, and really feel heavy for his or her measurement (gentle = dried out inside).
I really imply it once I say that eggplant roasted with simply salt and pepper is so good, you can be utterly completely happy to eat it plain. And that’s definitely the way in which I serve it more often than not. It’s so juicy, you don’t even want a sauce!
However if you wish to jazz it up a bit, listed here are a couple of concepts:
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Thyme (my favorite, pictured under) – 1 tsp recent thyme leaves sprinkled over. It goes so effectively with roasted eggplant, makes it style virtually buttery;
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Parsley, chives or inexperienced onions – for contact of freshness and color (not a lot flavour);
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Lemon juice – squeeze of recent lemon juice (additionally nice paired with thyme);
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Balsamic vinegar (tiny drizzle) – pop of tartness is terrific! OR drizzle of balsamic glaze;
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Dollop of yogurt – creamy yogurt pairs very well with the juicy eggplant flesh;
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Pomegranate – plus yogurt. Seems to be spectacular!
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Sprinkle of parmesan – paying homage to Eggplant Parmesan.
And some different concepts for methods to make use of roasted eggplant:
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Dip / unfold – Mash it (discard pores and skin) then function dip or unfold on toast;
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On toast – Piled on toast slathered with butter (or ricotta) – do that crusty selfmade bread;
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Eggplant Parmigiana – Eggplant layered with wealthy tomato sauce, basil, and parmesan cheese, all topped off with stretchy, gooey mozzarella. Oh yeah!
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Pasta – Pasta alla Norma!;
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Stirred into curries (the roasting provides so a lot better flavour!) – attempt any of those curries however particularly Thai Purple Curry or Inexperienced Curry, this Coconut Curry Sauce; this epic Massaman Lamb Shank Curry. Simply stir it in in the direction of the tip – it should take in flavour quick and it’ll collapse if simmered within the sauce for too lengthy
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Stuffed into an omelette;
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Tossed by means of a pasta salad;
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Stirred right into a stew or soup, like this fast Chicken Stew, this Chickpea Lamb Shawarma Soup, this hearty Beef and Vegetable Soup, Minestrone Soup, Lentil Soup (critically wonderful!) or this Brazilian Coconut Chickpea Stew.
OR on this massive, juicy lentil salad piled excessive with roasted eggplant that I additionally shared right this moment.
Don’t run for the hills on the considered lentils – you haven’t tried MY lentil salad but! It’s not your regular bland and boring lentil salad, that’s for certain! – Johnsat x
Ingredients
- 700g/ 1.2 lb eggplants (2 medium), aka aubergine
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt (kosher / cooking salt, or 1/4 tsp table salt)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 240°C / 450°F (220°C fan).
- Line a tray with parchment/baking paper (optional – recommended for first timers so you don’t lose the caramelised surface).
- Cut eggplant into large cubes – 3 cm / 1.2″. Place in large bowl, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper.
- Toss well, spread on tray, roast 20 minutes. Turn, roast for a further 10 minutes – edges should be caramelised, soft inside, but they’re not shrivelled up and dismal.
- Transfer to serving plate. Delicious served plain, but see below for some finishing options.
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (my favourite!), drizzle of fresh lemon juice, parsley, chives or green onions (for touch of freshness and colour, not so much flavour), tiny drizzle of balsamic vinegar (pop of tartness is terrific! OR drizzle of balsamic glaze), dollop of yogurt (creamy yogurt pairs really well with the juicy eggplant flesh).
Notes
Peeling – if you’re bothered by eggplant skin (which I am not – I don’t find it at all chewy), peel “zebra stripes” down the eggplant like this. If you don’t leave at least some skin on, then the eggplant cubes are prone to collapsing and turning into mush – you need some skin to hold it together.
Bitterness & salting – In the past, the standard preparation method for eggplant including salting the eggplant to remove bitterness. The eggplant of today has largely had the bitterness bred out of it so unless you have a very old, very large one, you shouldn’t have this problem. I never have.
However, if you can’t get your head around cooking eggplant without salting it, here’s how: sprinkle the cubed eggplant with 1 tsp salt, toss, leave in colander for 30 minutes. Rinse then thoroughly pat dry, toss with oil and pepper (NO SALT), roast per recipe.
Select eggplants that are firm but have a bit of give, and feel heavy for their size (light = dried out inside).
Did You Make This Recipe?
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