Simple Elevated Roasted Eggplant

For the longest time, cooking eggplant was a major mystery to this experienced foodie. Cooking with other night shades is a dream compared to the stately eggplant, until recently. Now, we cannot seem to get enough of this light and filling culinary vegetable. Meal prepping is effortless when planning with this recipe. Enjoy one of our favorite weekly dishes! BON

Simple Elevated Roasted Eggplant

Working with eggplant is no longer scary. This simple eggplant recipe bursts with flavor and texture. It's filling and completely satisfying.  Enjoy as a side dish or as a main course.  

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Prep Time 35 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 3-4 Eggplants Whole, fresh
• 1 cup Grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup Seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup Dried thyme
• 1 tbsp Garlic powder
• 1 tbsp Onion powder
• 1 tbsp Black pepper
• ⅔ cup Olive oil

Equipment

• 1 Cutting board
• 1 Sharp knife
• 3 Sheets baking parchment
• 1 Large cookie sheet
• 1 Large metal spatula
• 1/2 Cup, measuring cup
• 1 Cup, measuring cup
• ⅔ Cup, measuring cup
• 1 Very large mixing bowl
• Small freezer bags

Method

 

1. Preheat the oven at 430 degrees.
2. Mix all dry ingredients together. Set aside.
3. Prepare the cookie sheet by placing three baking parchment sheets across the long side. Crinkle the parchment sheets before placing them onto the cookie sheet. Set the cookie sheet aside.
4. Wash and remove all produce stickers from eggplants. Cut off any bruised or soft spot areas and discard the cut offs.
5. Prepping the eggplants for cubing. Cut the eggplant in half from the top to the bottom (long side). Slice the long sides in half. You should have four cuts that look like large eggplant steaks. Take one whole half of the eggplant (open side down) and cut it into 3/4 inch strips from top to bottom, (the long length of the eggplant) and repeat on the entire side of the eggplant. Turn the eggplant side around and cut the long strips into 3/4 inch cubes. Repeat this cubing cut for the other side of the eggplant. Cut the remaining eggplants using the same method until they are cubed.
6. Gently coat the eggplant with the olive oil, distributing it evenly throughout the eggplant.
7. Gently shake the dry ingredients over the olive oil covered eggplant until all the eggplant cubes are covered.
8. Gently place the eggplant onto the cookie sheet. Cover the entire cookie sheet with the coated eggplant. Place into the oven.
9. Roast for 35 minutes.
10. Pull out of the oven. Test a few pieces throughout the cookie sheet for fully cooked and crispy pieces. The taste should be savory and the texture should be slightly crispy on the outside. Hot eggplant is incredibly hot, so be careful and don't burn your mouth.
11. If the eggplant is not fully cooked or not slightly crispy, place into the oven for an additional 10 minutes.
12. Let the roasted eggplant rest for 10 minutes before serving.
13. After the eggplant has cooled, serve as planned.
14. For meal prepping, place 1/2 cup-1 cup servings into small freezer bags, seal, and freeze.

Notes

 

Image:  cislander from Getty Images

Images: cislander from Getty Images.