Written by Chris Monday, 08 February 2010 00:00

This decribes how to make a roasted eggplant preserve. Eggplant is known in Europe as melanzane and is native to India and Asia Minor. It's known as eggplant because early cultivars brought to the Americas were small, round and white. 

Here, we simply roasted the eggplants and preserved them in olive oil. They can then be kept for several weeks to be used in (for example) pasta dishes,  served as a relish or as part of a meze.

Ingredients

• 1Kg of medium sized eggplants (melanzane) 
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Rosemary and any other herbs you like

Preparation

The eggplants are first cut into 1cm thick slices, placed in a colander and sprinkled with salt. You should leave them for an hour or so until the salt draws out excess moisture from the plant. When ready to cook wash them with lots of water and dry off with paper towels.

Place the slices on an oven-proof tray that has been well oiled wth olive oil. You may need two dishes depending on the number of slices that you have.

Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degree centigrade and roast for about 45 minutes or until brown. Half-way through cooking add salt and pepper and the herbs of your choice. Turn the the slices at this stage too and mix everything up to get an even spread of the herbs. For garlic lovers, try adding whole cloves of garlic too.

Once cooked, allow to cool and then add the slices to a jar and cover with olive oil. If the eggplant slices are completely covered they can stay in the fridge for several weeks. The oil that remains can also be used to add a richer flavour to pasta dishes and salads.