Grilled eggplant: basic recipe to enjoy all year round

Grilled eggplant is basically in every restaurant menu in Italy, but also in every household, since it is simple and really tasty. A prefect dish for meal prepping: cook it on the weekend and enjoy it all week long.
The grilling makes the eggplants taste more intense, and the extra virgin olive oil is perfect for the slight sourness of the veggie.

Seasonal availability: how to enjoy grilled eggplant off season

If you mainly shop and enjoy seasonal vegetables but feel the need to try something different from time to time, this trick is for you. To eat grilled eggplant off season without buying vegetables that are imported or grown in greenhouses you can simply freeze the eggplants slices.

Once they’re grilled and the water is evaporated, they’re perfect for freezing, and will keep for a very long time. Once you are ready to eat it, simply thaw it out and season with olive oil, parsley, mint or basil a dash of vinegar and you’re good to go.

When in season you can prepare a large batch and, if well covered in oil, they will keep for at least week in the fridge, in an airtight container.

Ideas for serving grilled eggplant

Once the eggplants are grilled you can also use them for a lot of other dishes:

• Parmigiana: instead of deep frying the eggplant, try a lighter version using simple grilled eggplants;
• on top of your pizza: you can use both on cooked pizza and add the eggplants on top of the tomato, then add the mozzarella cheese and cook the pizza;
• Pizza sandwich: Try grilled eggplant with mozzarella to make an amazing super quick stuffed pizza
• Pasta salad: add some grilled eggplant, fresh cheese like Italian mozzarella (the real deal, not the cubed hard one), basil and some pesto.
• As is: serve it as is, with some extra virgin olive oil as side dish.

Ingredients to prepare grilled eggplant

• Eggplants
• extravirgin olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic thinly sliced
• chopped parsley to taste

Method

Step 1
Wash the eggplants and remove the stem parts. Slice them and line the slices on a cooling wrack or onto a plate. Sprinkle with coarse salt and let them sit for 10 minutes. This step removes the extra bitterness.
You can also put the slices into a bowl and cover with cold water. Let them sit for 5 minutes then discard the water and cover them again.

Step 2
Drain them and pat them dry with a kitchen cloth.

Step 3
Grill the eggplants on a grill pan or broil them in the oven, 3/5 minutes for each side.

Step 4
Line the slices into a container, sprinkle with the parsley and with few garlic slices, then cover with oil. Repeat to finish all the ingredients.To use the eggplants for a parmigiana skip this step.

Step 5
If you want to keep the eggplants for later use, you can simply freeze them onto a board or a plate then for a couple of hours, then transfer them in a ziplock and back in the freezer. They will keep for at least 6 months. Do not freeze the eggplants with the oil or the taste will be spoiled.