Grilled Tomato Eggplant
Yes folks, it’s another grilling recipe. A few weeks ago I ran into Valli Produce to get summer squash for my Grilled Summer Squash with Roasted Pistachio Sauce. Of course I had to check out the reduced rack. Can you ever go into a produce store and not check out the reduced rack? I can’t. They had these gorgeous baby eggplant that was perfect to use that day. Given that it was a Friday and I was going to be grilling anyway, I bought them. That’s how Grilled Tomato Eggplant came to be.
Developing the recipe for Grilled Tomato Eggplant
I have a pretty extensive spice collection. Next to my range top, under my island, I have a pull out spice cabinet. Additionally, I designated an entire drawer for spices, and in my pantry there are pull out bins with even more spices. I had a lot to work with.
But… What spices should I use???
The truth is, you could really just salt, pepper and oil (preferably garlic oil ๐ ), but I wanted something way more flavorful. Of course it was going to go on the grill, and it shouldn’t have ingredients that might scorch.
Checking out all my spices, I had a pow wow with Dear Husband. I really felt like I wanted to do something with tomatoes for this eggplant dish. Kind of like the flavors of a ratatouille. Tomato sauce wouldn’t give the tomatoey strength and tomato paste would be too thick.
Here’s the aside: I’m a HUGE Spice House fan. Especially now that most of the items in the Evanston, Illinois store are certified Kosher. I often will take a field trip to the store to check out all the cool new and traditional spices. It’s one of my favorite places on the planet. If you open my spice drawers you’ll see it filled with the gold lidded Spice House Bottles.
We ended up grabbing the awesomely tomatoey and fragrant Spice House tomato powder. It was a little clumpy because I didn’t realize that it really needs to be stored in the refrigerator, but we were able to manage.
Woot.
Then we added some Spice House Italian Herb Blend, which contains oregano, basil thyme, rosemary and marjoram.
Yum.
And… some Spice House Spanish Smoked Sweet Paprika.
Holy Cow that’s good.
About Tomato Powder…
While I could talk about The Spice House Tomato Powder all the live long day, I’m just going to copy what The Spice House writes about it:“There’s something special about the flavor of tomato powder. It captures the juicy, sun-ripened goodness of fresh tomatoes in a way that canned or bottled tomato products simply can’t. Whether you’re concocting a quick pasta sauce, spicing up a homemade pizza, or adding depth to a slow-cooked stew, tomato powder imparts an intense tomato flavor that is both comforting and invigorating. The powder form allows you to control the intensity of the tomato flavor in your dishes, from a subtle hint to a robust punch. It’s also a great way to add color to your dishes, with its vibrant, natural red hue.Not limited to Italian or Mediterranean cuisines, tomato powder is an international culinary star. It can be found in the recipes of several different cultures, from the spicy curries of India to the hearty soups of Eastern Europe. And let’s not forget the role it plays in various BBQ rubs and sauces, where it adds a certain depth of flavor and a touch of acidity that balances the sweetness of other ingredients.”
What Eggplant Should I use?
I found the best eggplants to use for this recipe are medium eggplants. Medium eggplants are smaller than traditional eggplants, but larger than Indian eggplants, and more normally shaped than Asian eggplants.
If you can’t find these smaller eggplants, use the smallest traditional eggplants you can find. When I went back to Valli Produce to get more of the reduced medium eggplants, they were completely out of them and I ended up getting the smallest traditional ones I could find. While they were great as well, they were subtly not as good as the smaller medium ones.
Salting the Eggplant for Grilled Tomato Eggplant
Salting magically improves the flavor and texture of eggplant. It draws out the excess water, it reduces the eggplants sponginess resulting in a creamier silkier texture. The salt also draws out a great percentage of chemicals called anthocyanins which is the chemical that can make eggplant taste bitter.
Making Grilled Tomato Eggplant
The process goes as follows:
Cut the eggplant in half then make slash marks in each half.
Generously spread kosher salt on the eggplant, making sure to get into the crevices.
Line a large baking sheet with paper towels, then place a cooling rack over the baking sheet. Place the eggplants cut side down on the baking sheet.
Top the eggplant with another baking sheet, then put the heaviest things in your kitchen on top of that baking sheet. This will help to squeeze all the liquid out of the eggplants as the salt does it’s job. Let it rest for at least an hour. I let it sit for way longer but at least an hour works.
Thoroughly rinse the eggplant to get most of the salt out, then squeeze out any excess liquid and dry the eggplant.
It’s Grilled Tomato Eggplant Grilling time!!!
I grilled the eggplant on cut side down first until it had beautiful grill marks.
Then flipped them to let the eggplant finish cooking through.
And then they were done!
Then I topped them with a little bit of tahini sauce to balance out the flavors…woah.
Here’s the recipe for Grilled Tomato Eggplant
While summer = outdoor grilling, but if you don’t have an outdoor grill or if you’re too wimpy to grill in the rain, you can also use a stovetop grill pan or broil the eggplant in the oven.I especially love this recipe for how flavorful and healthy it is!! Perfect for summer.
Grilled Tomato Eggplant
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Salting Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 6 Grilled Tomato Eggplant halves 1x
- Category: Vegetable
- Method: Grilling
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
- Diet: Kosher
Description
Grilled Tomato Eggplant is charred, smoky eggplant infused with the rich taste of tangy tomato powder, fragrant Italian herb seasoning and aromatic smoky-sweet Spanish Smoked Sweet Paprika. It’s an unexpected burst of summer flavor. Served on a bed of rice with tahini sauce it’s the perfect light dinner or vegetable side dish. Whenever you serve it, each bite will be bursting with goodness!
Ingredients
- 3 medium eggplants
- 1/2–1 cup kosher salt (I like Diamond brand)
- 3 tablespoons garlic oil or 3 small cloves minced garlic + 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian Herb seasoning
- 2 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- cooked brown rice and tahini sauce, for serving
Instructions
- Line a large baking sheet with paper towels. Set a wire cooling rack over it. Set aside another similarly sized baking sheet and heavy cans/bottles/flour sacks.
- Cut each eggplant in half and score each half diagonally with around 4-5 slits.
- Generously sprinkle and rub kosher salt on each eggplant half. Wait 5-10 minutes, then place the eggplant halves cut side down on the wire cooling rack.
- Set the second baking sheet on top of the eggplant, then weigh down the baking sheet with set-aside heavy objects.
- Allow the eggplant to drain for at least an hour and up to several hours.
- Remove an eggplant from the rack and gently squeeze out the excess liquid, then thoroughly rinse and pat dry. Repeat with the remaining eggplant halves.
- Preheat grill to 400ยฐF. Lightly grease the grill by brushing a little olive oil over the grates.
- Place each eggplant half cut side down on the grill. Close the lid and grill for 7-10 minutes until grill marks are visible on the eggplant and it’s lightly charred. Turn the halves over and grill, covered for an additional 7 minutes until the halves are cooked through and bubbling.
- Remove from the grill and serve on a bed of rice and tahini sauce.
Equipment
Colavita Roasted Garlic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Low FODMAP, 32 Fl Oz
Buy Now โThe Spice House Italian Herb Seasoning
Buy Now โThe Spice House Spanish Smoked Sweet Paprika
Buy Now โNotes
Medium eggplant are the eggplants that are smaller than the traditional large eggplant, larger than Indian/baby eggplant and more traditionally shaped than Asian eggplant.
If you can’t find medium eggplant, use the smallest traditional eggplant you can find.
Grilling times may vary depending upon the size of your eggplant.
If you don’t have tomato powder, whisk 2 tablespoons of tomato paste into the oil, then toss with the rest of the spices and the eggplant.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Grilled Tomato Eggplant half
- Calories: 30
- Sugar: 1.7 g
- Sodium: 4.1 mg
- Fat: 0.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 6.8 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 1.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
MORE GREAT GRILLING RECIPES
Don’t forget my last awesome grilling recipe Grilled Summer Squash with Roasted Pistachio Sauce: And even more grilling recipes!!!
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