Riepilogo della Verdura Fresca del Mese: melanzana / Fresh Produce of the Month's Roundup: eggplant

A month chock-full of delicious recipes all featuring eggplant: what a delight!

Srimathi of Few Minute Wonders starts the series of Indian dishes (there will be several more in this roundup) with a "side dish that is spicy and tangy and can be eaten with rice." The dish is Enna/ Oil Kathrika/ Eggplant Kozhambu/Gravy.

To make it, Srimathi uses an appam pan, though a regular wok can also be used.

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Jayashree of My Experiments With Food "decided to stick the eggplant in the microwave. The rest, as they say, is history." Note that you still need to make slits on the surface of the eggplant before you microwave it (see below).

The microwaved eggplant was then used to make baingan bharta.

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Sra of When My Soup Came Alive got hold of "a recipe for stuffed brinjals (eggplant) from an aunt, and... decided to go the whole hog with the grinding of the paste."

The stuffed eggplants are then fried on a slow simmer: "the result is a wonderfully stuffed and almost (but not quite) charred mixture."

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Cinzia of Bread and Cherries brings us from India to Italy to taste a classic dish: Parmigiana di Melanzane, which "with some variations is very common in all of Southern Italy. In Naples the eggplants’ slices are just cut and fried, in the internal regions of Campania they are coated with flour and eggs."

After this introduction, Cinzia shares with us her family's traditional recipe. Step-by-step accompany her description.

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Lori Lynn of Taste with the Eyes treats us to an All About Eggplant banquet:

• Grilled Skirt Steak over Grilled Eggplant and Salsa Verde Black Beans Cilantro Garnish
• Salad of Grilled Eggplant and Slow Roasted Tomato with Bûcheron Dijon Vinaigrette (photo)
• Festonati Pasta, Grilled Eggplant, Homegrown Tomato Topped with Grated Smoked Scamorza, Fresh Basil Olive Oil, Garlic, Red Chile Flakes
• Grilled Eggplant, Melting Scamorza Homegrown Tomatoes, Fresh Basil with Garlic Anchovy Oil

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Bee and Jai of Jugalbandi tell us about Kashk, fermented whey, which is used in Iranian cuisine. I must admit I did not know about this food.

With it, they made Kashk e Bademjan (Persian Eggplant Spread), which they served with rye crackers. If you don't have access to a jar of kashk, do not be discouraged: "Don’t hesitate to make this even without kashk. It is delicious drizzled with plain yogurt/sour cream or on its own."

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"A heavy, firm, eggplant with a glossy purple-black skin" inspires Susan of Food Blogga to make Grilled Eggplant with Roasted Red Pepper Tapenade, "an ideal appetizer for a party."

"The wonderful charred flavor of the eggplant is only enhanced with a boldly flavorful tapenade of savory roasted red peppers, salty olives, and fragrant fresh herbs."

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Susan, The Well-Seasoned Cook shares with us her own recipe for a dish "flavored with ras el hanout [a complex Moroccan spice that, depending on the preparer, can contain up to 50 ingredients], preserved lemon and currants, a celebrated Middle Eastern specialty that satisfies spicy, salty and sweet cravings in the same dish": Stovetop Eggplant Tagine.

It is "especially good the next day after flavors meld and develop."

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Sweatha of TastyCurryLeaf had "never ever tried Vietnamese." She tried to find an easy Vietnamese dish and found aPoached Eggplant Salad that "is easy to make and tastes nice."

Then she (virtually) traveled all the way from Vietnam to Sicily to make Pasta Alla Norma. This famous dish honors the bounty of the island and one of its sons, the composer Vincenzo Bellini and his great opera, Norma.

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We go back to India in the company of UjjU of Cuisine Point.

She offers us Baingun Bhaja and tells us that "Baingun (Brinjal / Eggplant in Hindi) Bhaja is a bengali dry curry, served as part of a traditional wedding feast along with rice creations. It also makes a good appetizer."

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And then we are back in Italy with Astrofiammante of Mangiare è un pò come viaggiare (Eating is a bit like traveling). Her Zuccottino di melanzana ripieno [recipe in Italian] is made by shaping roasted eggplant shells into domes and filling them first with chopped eggplant pulp (seasoned with roasted garlic and parsley), then with finely chopped cherry tomatoes, olives, capers and basil and finally with more eggplant pulp. 

You may also take a look at her carpaccio di melanzane marinate agli agrumi.

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The back-and-forth continues and it is time to go to India, where Shail of Shail offers us Baigan ka Bharta or Chokha, which is "generally eaten with Litti or Paranthas."

Shail tells us that some in her "family love it, but some are very wary of it. But Baigan always turns out tasty."

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It's Italy now, this time in the company of this event's creator, Marta, a.k.a An Italian in the US. She made two versions of Melanzane alla Parmigiana then submitted them to the taste buds of a circle of trusted friends asking them to choose their favorite version. They were all more than happy to comply with her request. I won't reveal the verdict here: find out on her blog.

"In any case, whichever version you choose: this dish is a winner."

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I told the story of a memorable melanzana disaster that should serve as a warning: never forget to cut some slits on an eggplant before roasting it.

After years of avoiding roasting whole eggplants, I took the plunge and made a melanzana arrosto that becomes a tasty spread with the addition of various ingredients, including labneh.

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I hope you have enjoyed this culinary itinerary celebrating eggplant in many delicious dishes. Marta, An Italian in the US, will host the next edition of her event and she has just announced the theme: pears.

If you want to participate, here are the simple rules:

1. Put a post on your blog with a recipe involving pears. Add a link to the announcement and mention that it's an entry for the Fresh produce of the month event. If you like it, feel free to place the logo of the pear-centered event on your post.
2. Send an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name to Marta at chemcookitATgmailDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh produce of the month: Pears' as subject.
3. If you don't have a blog just send Marta an email with your recipe and, if you have a picture of the food you made, that's even better: she will add it to the roundup as well.

The deadline for entry submission will be October 31st (not an easy day to forget).

Comments

[astrofiammante]

wouuuu apro le danze culinarie! bellllisssssima raccolta,e varia, ( postato clam chwoder, baci!

[astrofiammante]

sono ancora qui....ho letto meglio fino in fondo..intuisco che c'è una raccolta con la pera e che stavolta si invia ad una mia omonima? porta pazienza, intuisco giusto?

[Marta]

Wowww!!! Wonderful roundup :)
Thank you Simona and everybody who took part to the event. I'm really excited at this varied collection. I will definitely try some of these entries, many of them completely new to me! Looking forward to seeing you at the next pear-centered event :)

[Simona Carini]

Grazie, Astro. Intuizione corretta.

You are welcome, Marta. It was a lot of fun. I have my pear-centered post already planned.

[Sweatha]

Nice round up.Thanks.

[Francesca]

un round up tutto color melanzana, che bello! E molto utile per portare ancora in tavola questo ortaggio molto amato.

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

Fabulous Round-Up Simona! So many excellent ways to prepare this favorite vegetable!

[Susan]

Oh, everything looks and sounds so delicious! When it comes to eggplant, you either love it or leave it. I'm so glad to be in the first camp.

Thank you for the round-up, Simona!

[Paz]

A wonderful line up of fresh produce dishes.

Paz

[Simona]

You are welcome, Sweatha.

Grazie, Francesca.

Thanks, Lori Lynn: I agree.

That's right, Susan: many people don't like eggplant. You are welcome.

Thanks Paz.

[Rachel]

What a great roundup of beautiful melanzana recipes! I wanted to participate but I cooked up an Eggplant Dish (a Papoutzakia) that just turned out awfully bitter so it was not blogworthy. Maybe I'll have better luck with pears.

[bee]

thanks for this roundup, dear simona.

[UjjU]

Hello Simona, WoW! What a round up! Most of the entries are new to me. I shall try a few for sure. Thanks for the round up.

[Lisa]

What a wealth of wonderful ways to use eggplant! One of my favorite veggies, so I love this. I look forward to checking out all of the dishes.

[Simona]

Sorry about the disappointing result, Rachel. Good luck with the pear dish of your choice.

You are welcome, Bee.

You are welcome, UjjU.

It's a nice collection of suggestions for exploring planet eggplant, Lisa.

[Susan from Food Blogga]

Yes! More wonderful eggplant recipes. Fortunately, our eggplants are still beautiful at the market, so I'll have time to try out a couple of these. Thanks for hosting, Simona. Ciao!

[Simona]

You are welcome, Susan.