You want to prepare eggplant, but do not know how to do it best? We show you a variety of recipe ideas for the vegetable and give tips for preparation.
Fry eggplant in a pan
To prepare the eggplant in a pan, first wash it thoroughly and remove the stalk.
Then cut them into slices about 0.5 centimeters thick and sprinkle them with salt. Salting is optional, but it removes water from the vegetables so that they retain their firm consistency when fried and absorb less fat. It also makes them taste less bitter.
After 15 minutes you can dab the slices with kitchen paper.
Finally, brush them with a little oil on both sides and fry them in a coated pan without adding more oil.
If you want to fry the eggplant with other vegetables (for example, for ratatouille), it is best to cut it into cubes. After roasting, you can put them on paper towels to absorb excess fat.
Preparing eggplant in the oven
Another way to prepare eggplant is to bake it in the oven. To do this, follow the steps above and roast the oiled eggplant slices on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes at 200 degrees. Alternatively, cut the eggplant lengthwise, score the flesh crosswise and put olive oil, a crushed garlic clove and salt on the halves.
If you prefer stuffed eggplants, you should hollow out the vegetables beforehand and sauté the flesh - the combination with feta and tomatoes, for example, tastes great. We also have delicious casseroles, such as our recipe for eggplant moussaka or our eggplant lasagna.
Cooking eggplant on the grill
In summer, you can easily grill an eggplant - either in the form of medallions (try our recipe for seasoned vegetable thalers) or as a skewer. For the latter, dice or thinly slice the vegetable and make these delicious eggplant skewers with goat yogurt dip.
Puree eggplant
If you're looking for a delicious dip, you should try baba ganoush! This is a cream from Arabic cuisine with eggplant, garlic and tahini. The eggplants must first be roasted in the oven for 30 minutes, then the pulp is pureed together with the other ingredients - the paste is wonderful as an accompaniment to bread or vegetable pans.
More preparation tips for eggplants
Eggplants belong to the nightshade family and, like potatoes, contain the bitter substance solanine. In high doses, solanine is toxic to humans, so you should not eat eggplant raw. Once the vegetable has been cooked, however, it is safe to eat. You can also eat the skin of eggplants, it should only be washed thoroughly beforehand.