Recipe - Roasted Eggplant on Garlic Toast

The aubergine is one of my all time favorite foods.  Eggplants, as we call them here in the States, are members of the nightshade family and are indigenous to India and southeast Asia.  They arrived in the West no earlier than about 1500.  The particular eggplant pictured above arrived at my house no earlier than Saturday, and was quickly dispatched.

Eggplants have such a velvety flavor: rich and smooth on the tongue.  They are excellent grilled, fried (particularly in Eggplant Parmesan, which I will share at a later date), and also roasted.  Inspired by a superb loaf of crusty bread procured at our local farmer's market, I decided to roast this fine specimen.  Read on for the details.

First, remove the green end and cut into 1/2 inch cubes, sprinkle with olive oil, and place in a single layer on a greased sheet pan, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Note: I like the peel, but it is a little tough when cooked, so you may want to remove some or all of it with a vegetable peeler.

Ready for the oven

I baked mine in a convection oven at 325 degrees for quite a while, but your mileage may vary.  At any rate, cook the snot out of 'em until they look nice and brown and are a little crispy on the outside, but soft and yummy in the middle.  Okay, I'm starting to drool.

Now toast some crusty bread.  Like I said, the bread in question was really the inspiration for this appetizer.  I guess my thoughts on bruschetta are like my thoughts on pasta:  the "topping" is a condiment; the starch is the star of the show.  So when I examined the well developed crust, beautiful crumb, and substantial gluten structure of this little guy, I decided Mr. Eggplant would play the supporting role.

The camera loves me.

Check out the GLUTEN!

Sinewy gluten structure

The secret to great, garlicy bruschetta is as follows: skip the butter, spreads, mashed up garlic stuff in a jar, etc.  Simply toast your bread, and when it's hot out of the toaster or off the grill, rub it with a whole garlic clove.

Don't be shy with that garlic either.  Once that's done, top with your roasted eggplant, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil, a little coarse salt, and a sprinkle of parmigiano reggiano.  As my Italian grandpa would say, this is so good, you'll loose your teeth!

Mmmmmmmmmm.  Toasty.