Baked eggplants in the oven

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 1 hr

1. STEP 1

   

   How to bake eggplants in the oven? Prepare your food. The main ingredient of the dish is eggplant. Ground vegetables are best suited, and of course the priority is to collect them during the eggplant season. Choose small, ripe fruits. From the greens I took parsley, but it can be replaced with any other fresh herbs: cilantro, dill, basil and others.

2. STEP 2

   

   Wash the eggplants well, dry them, cut them in half lengthwise, removing the green tail.

3. STEP 3

   

   Using a sharp knife, make shallow cuts in a cross pattern without piercing the skin.

4. STEP 4

   

   Sprinkle the eggplants with salt and leave for 10-15 minutes. This way you will remove the bitterness from the fruit, which is usually inherent in this vegetable. Then simply blot the pulp with a paper towel to remove any moisture released.

5. STEP 5

   

   Lightly brush the eggplants with vegetable oil. The easiest way to do this is to use a pastry brush.

6. STEP 6

   

   Place the eggplants in a heat-resistant form and place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30-40 minutes. The baking time depends on the size of the eggplants, but the flesh should become soft and the top of the blue ones should turn brown.

7. STEP 7

   

   While the eggplants are baking, prepare the dressing. For this we need lemon juice. You can take a ready-made, factory-made one. If you squeeze juice directly from a lemon, scald it first - this will allow the lemon to release more juice. I also recommend using a small sieve to prevent any bones from getting into the dressing.

8. STEP 8

   

   Add chopped garlic to lemon juice. I put the clove through a press, but you can grate it on a fine grater or chop it with a knife.

9. STEP 9

   

   Chop the washed and well-dried greens. Add it to the dressing and pepper.

10. STEP 10

    

    Grate the yellow part of the lemon on a fine grater and also add to the dressing. Add salt to taste and mix everything.

11. STEP 11

    

    Place the baked eggplant on a serving dish.

12. STEP 12

    

    Drizzle the flavorful dressing over the top and serve immediately. Or wait until completely cool and serve cold.

13. STEP 13

    

    This is an appetizer, a side dish, and a separate dish. Bon appetit!

Comments on the recipe

Natalia M

20.08.2023

4.6

Baked eggplants in the oven are a very easy dish to prepare. However, eggplant tastes amazing! It is best to take fruits with white pulp; it is not bitter and there are practically no seeds. But I had regular eggplants, so I also sprinkled them with salt, and after releasing the juice, I blotted them with a paper towel. I greased the eggplant halves with regular sunflower oil and placed them on a Teflon mat. Bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees. I used the dressing without lemon zest, because I used ready-made juice. We tried the baked eggplant both warm and after cooling in the refrigerator. Both options are good! The eggplant pulp turned out to be tender, garlic and lemon juice complement the main taste very well. I recommend!