Ready for their close up
This is another Vincenzo recipe. It couldn't be easier. You need to use baby eggplant for this dish. Peel it in a striped pattern, leaving some of the skin on and slice horizontally. Grill in extra virgin olive oil. (Don't let the radicchio fool you - it's just a prop - not included in this dish.)
Don't peel all of the skin off
Cook over medium heat
Eggplant is a hardy vegetable and it takes a while for it to cook so only heat the pan to a low to medium heat so you don't burn the outsides while the insides end up on the raw side. If you're preparing the protein part of the dish yourself, you can put the eggplant and tomatoes in the oven to stay warm and finish cooking while you grill the chicken.
Once the eggplant looks like it's done toss in the cherry tomatoes
Though this is Vincenzino's recipe, I couldn't help but add my own special touches. Once the eggplant nears being done, I toss sliced cherry tomatoes into the pan. They cook very quickly and don't need as much time grilling as the eggplant. And, we all know I'd squeeze lemon on oatmeal, but it's much better with eggplant and tomatoes so when the tomatoes near being finished I squeezed lemon juice on top, and seasoned with coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper. I toss the lemon itself in the pan, too!
How good does this look?
I made the eggplant to go with grilled chicken that I bought at Citarella. This is part of my series of dressing up prepared foods to taste homemade. This eggplant dish is delicious, and only takes a few minutes to prepare.
Yum!
Store bought grilled chicken, the eggplant and roasted beet leftovers
I remembered I had leftovers from making roasted beets the night before so I dressed up this dish with those ingredients. Suddenly I had a hardy dinner for pennies and very little effort.
Ingredients
1 medium eggplant or 2 baby eggplants
1 tspn extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 fresh lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
Method
Heat grill pan over low to medium heat
When the pan is hot add the oil
Slice the eggplants horizontally and add to pan
Cook for a few minutes each side
When the eggplants are almost cooked add the cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
Squeeze lemon over the mixture and toss lemon into pan
Stir over medium heat until the eggplant and tomatoes are charred
Flesh out with grilled chicken and/or any leftovers you have in the fridge
Serve and enjoy!
Dinner is served!
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