Eggplant Antipasto with Onions, Oregano, and Parsley

Italian eggplant antipasto is designed to captivate us at the first bite, and this dish fulfills it's promise. I love Italian food, and am always looking for different recipes with eggplant, which grow so well here in the Tropics. I used some fresh white homegrown eggplant which I was given from our friend's garden. I haven't seen these white ones in the supermarket but I did see some seedlings at Bunnings the other day which may interest you.  However eggplant self seed so easily from the compost to the garden if you can find some.

The white eggplant are perfect for this recipe as they aren't as bitter as the large purple ones can be, and they soak up all of the wonderful flavours of the herbs, the olive oil, the garlic  and the vinegar. The eggplant are prepared by boiling them, a different approach and so easy, which means they soften nicely and some of the seeds are also discarded in the water.

This recipe is taken from Marcellina's Marcellinaincucina blog, and when  I saw it  I had to make it. Thanks to Marcellina for this original Italian recipe.She has some wonderful Italian recipes on her blog.

Serve this with some crusty bread, and you have a match made in heaven. I used some of my latest sourdough loaf to serve it with.

Ingredients:
Serves 8

3 large eggplant cut into 2 cm chunks
2 onions sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic chopped finely
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
200 ml extra virgin olive oil
salt
Freshly ground pepper

Method:

Cook the chopped eggplant in a large pot of salted water for about 5 minutes. You may need to push the eggplant down with a spoon because the chunks will float as they cook.

When the eggplant is cooked, drain well, and transfer to a bowl and cover.

Warm the olive oil in a frying pan.

Add the onions. garlic, and oregano and fry gently until softened and aromatic. Cook long and slow for about 15 minutes.

Add the red wine vinegar. Stir to combine.

Pour mixture over the cooked eggplant along with the parsley and toss gently to combine.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Preparing Antipasto can be as simple as opening a bottle, however it is expensive to buy and preparing your own like this is quite simple and so delicious, so I urge you to give it a try.  This Eggplant Antipasto keeps in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, which means there is always a quick snack available or an antipasto platter easily assembled. Allow to stand at least an hour before serving but best made the day before you plan to eat it.

Bye for now

Pauline xx