Sautéed White Eggplant
I love eggplant and one of my favorite dishes is sautéed eggplant. I usually make it with regular big purple eggplant or the small purple ones sometimes. This time I decided to try making it using white eggplant. I have never tried it before and after seeing it at the vegetable store I just had to try it.
You can always buy sautéed eggplant in a jar from your supermarket but why do that when you can make it yourself. Making sautéed eggplant couldn't be any easier. You don't need that many ingredients to create this delicious dish.
Sautéed eggplant will make for a great appetizer. You can place it on top of toasted bread or crackers or simply serve it as a salad. You can also use sautéed eggplant as a side dish when paring it with fish fillets, chicken, meat or even sausages. Another tasty idea is to serve sautéed eggplant for breakfast with an omelet or sunny side up eggs. Soft boiled eggs will complement the dish as well and I love eating it this way.
Below you will find instructions on how to prepare this sautéed white eggplant dish. I hope you try making this recipe, whether you choose to use white eggplant or another eggplant variety. Happy cooking!
Sautéed eggplant will make for a great appetizer. You can place it on top of toasted bread or crackers or simply serve it as a salad. You can also use sautéed eggplant as a side dish when paring it with fish fillets, chicken, meat or even sausages. Another tasty idea is to serve sautéed eggplant for breakfast with an omelet or sunny side up eggs. Soft boiled eggs will complement the dish as well and I love eating it this way.
Ingredients
- 4 White Eggplant
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 Medium Carrot
- 2 Celery Stalks
- 1 Medium/Large Tomato
- 1 Red Pepper - Bell pepper or long narrow one
- Few tablespoons Ketchup
- Few teaspoons Aji Mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)
- Sea Salt
- Basil - fresh and dried
- Canola Oil
- Water
Instructions
- Wash and peel the eggplant and cut vertically in half and then in half again. Then take each half and slice horizontally and set aside. The pieces should be thick but not too thick and not too big.
- Wash a carrot, peel and cut in the same manner as the eggplant and set aside.
- Wash your celery, trim, the edges on both sides and slice. When done set aside. You can cut the celery stalks vertically down the middle first before slicing them horizontally, if you want them to be smaller in size. You don't have to do this though.
- Wash and slice a red pepper (bell pepper or thin long one). Do the same with a tomato. When slicing a tomato make sure to have thick chunks not long slices. Set them aside.
- Peel and slice an onion into small chunks and cook them in a skillet until golden. Remove into a bowl when done.
- When the onions have finished cooking and you've removed them place the carrot, celery and red pepper and cook until they are tender yet still give a crunch, making sure to flip them over with a spatula and add oil if necessary. Add the tomatoes, stir, and cook together for a few minutes. Remove onto a bowl with the onions.
- Add oil to the skillet and add the eggplant. Cook it over medium heat until tender yet still crunchy. You can always cook it until it is very soft but then it will become mushy, which I personally am not a fan of. You may want to cover it with a lid while it cooks. Note that eggplant absorbs oil fairly quickly so will have to keep adding cooking oil to the skillet otherwise the eggplant will stuck to the pan or will burn.
- When you feel that the eggplant is just about done add all the cooked veggies to it and sprinkle with sea salt. Then in a small bowl mix a few tablespoons of ketchup and a few teaspoons of Aji Mirin (sweet cooking rice wine). Add to the pan and mix well. Add a little bit of water if you want to have more sauce. I'd add a little less than 1/4 cup. Make sure to mix everything and then cover with a lid and let cook for a few minutes or so. When done sprinkle with dried basil and add some fresh basil as well.
© 2014 Lena Kovadlo
