Melanzane Arrosto - Broiled Eggplant

OK, OK... I admit it: Coming back with an eggplant recipe now that it's almost December is a sure give away. I haven't been keeping my word. I've been slacking on the SS recipes. Truth to be told, I've been slacking on most cooking, aside from some survival pantry dinners here and there.

I have excuses - pretty good ones at that! International travel, visiting mother, moving into a new house and being too busy to unpack my kitchen... (Which, by the way, is fabulous! and far better suited to this whole cooking experience than my previous one. Yippeee!)
But this past weekend, glorious Thanksgiving weekend, I've rediscovered my burning desire to spend considerable amounts of time in the kitchen. I'll tell you more about my Thanksgiving experience on my other blog, Le Fabuleux Destin.

For now, I must do my bloggerly duty and write up this simple, delicious recipe and then spend some quality planning some new recipes from SS to make this week and get back on track.

The eggplant in this recipe is not too different from the zucchini I wrote about last, which makes me think that the two recipes could be combined quite deliciously (although I'll wait until next summer to do that). I sliced 3 eggplants thickly, sprinkled them with salt and let them drain for about 30 minutes. My college roommate Ramon claims that this is torturous, but I truly believe that the eggplant love this, that it is akin to a spa treatment for them.

I preheated the broiler, rinsed the eggplant and patted them dry (furthering their complete spa experience) then broiled them in the sauna for a few minutes on each side. I let them cool off by the pool then arranged the slices in layers in a serving dish, sprinkling each layer with garlic, basil leaves, salt, pepper and a good amount of olive oil. Then I set them aside for about an hour to properly mingle.

And mingle they did - quite beautifully. Roast eggplant is a wonderful flavour and the addition of garlic, basil and olive oil (a holy trinity of sorts) elevated the flavour to great heights. The dish was simply delicious, and I look forward to making this many more times next summer.

Tasty Factor: A Ease of Preparation: A Modifications: None.