Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Salad
Hey there!
Due to my recent stay in Venice and therefore a pizza and pasta overdose I was craving a light salad for dinner tonight. Even though I enjoyed indulging into some authentic Italian pizza and pasta dishes I feel like I’m suffering under a veggie-deficit, since vegetables usually make up at least 50 per cent of my daily diet. Thanks to summer having finally arrived in Switzerland the tomatoes the supermarkets offer you are indeed pretty decent and enjoyable, hence they had to be included in this lovely salad creation. Not surprisingly I was also desiring some eggplant, which are as previously mentioned my absolute favourite vegetable. Even though eggplants don’t make a very enjoyable ingredient when their raw, they turn in to this divine buttery delightfulness when you bake them, that is why I decided to bake my eggplants once again, only did I dice them in one centimetre cubes this time.
Besides tomatoes and eggplants I only used a few basic Ingredients, still feeling the Italian vibe I resorted to balsamic vinegar, rosemary, garlic and lots and lots of freshly picked basil from my herb garden. And since I bought some dried cherry tomatoes on the market next to the Rialto Bridge I decided to also include these.
Although I only used a handful of ingredients the outcome was as expected a delight to my taste buds. Even my dad who is definitely awarded to be my most persistent critic was blown away and even grabbed for seconds. Hence it must have been delicious, it can’t just be delusion caused by vegetable withdrawal.
So there you go, the simple list of ingredients:
- 2 eggplants
- 4 tomatoes
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 3tbs of balsamic vinegar
- 40g of sun dried (cherry) tomatoes
- a few sprigs of rosemary
- a lot of basil
- salt
- pepper
- balsamic vinegar cream ( optional)
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Dice the eggplant in one-centimetre cubes, transfer to a lined baking sheet
3. Finely dice garlic, distribute evenly over the eggplant cubes
4. Prior to putting the baking sheet in the oven distribute the sprigs of fresh rosemary on top of the eggplant, then bake for approximately 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven until the eggplant is soft and tender on the inside and slightly crispy on the outside
5. Transfer the baked eggplant into a bowl and let it cool completely this might take up to an hour
6. Dice tomatoes into similar sized cubes as the eggplant add it to the cooled eggplant
7. Finely chop up basil and the dried tomatoes, add it to the tomatoes and eggplant
8. Pour the balsamic vinegar over the salad then add salt and pepper to taste
9. To enhance the dish with slight sweetness drizzle it with some balsamic cream before mixing it all through
10. I recommend letting the salad sit in the fridge before serving it for at least one hour, like this the flavours really get to infuse one another. If you haven’t got the time to do so, just enjoy it as is, it will still be delicious
Voila, a lovely tomato and eggplant salad, just perfect for the summer and when you’re feeling like Italian flavours, but don’t want to splurge on a cheesy pizza. This dish can be eaten as a condiment to a barbecue or as a main with some fresh bread. If you are craving veggies like I did today however it is also delicious as a side to some stuffed peppers which I paired it with.
So that’s it, wasn’t this so simple, you should just try it yourself, you will be stunned about the flavours such few ingredients can develop.
Bisous
Fanny, the foodie
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