Roasted Eggplant

By LeeBoruchow

Ingredients

• 2 lb. small Italian eggplant
• Kosher salt
• 2 to 3 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
• fresh thyme sprigs
• Several cloves of garlic, smashed
• Lemon vinaigrette for serving

Preparation

Step 1

Wipe the eggplant clean and slice them in half lengthwise. With the tip of a knife, score the flesh deeply in a diamond cross-hatch pattern by making two or three long cuts, cutting at a steep angle, and then rotating the eggplant to make another set of similar cuts. Press on the edges of the halves to open the cuts and sprinkle salt (1 to 1-1/2 tsp. total for all the halves) over the surface and into the cuts. Set aside, cut side up, for 30 min. Heat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Over the sink, gently squeeze the eggplant to extract the salty juice and wipe them dry with a paper towel. Brush each half thoroughly with olive oil (about 1 tsp. per half for Italian eggplant, 2 tsp. per half for globe). Arrange each half, cut side down, on top of a sprig or two of thyme and a smashed garlic clove on the baking sheet. Roast for 1 hour. The eggplant will collapse and the bottoms will be a deep brown caramel color. Gently turn the cut side up and drizzle with a lemon vinaigrette of your choice.