How To Roast Whole Eggplant In Oven - Whole Baked Aubergine Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do you leave the skin on eggplant when you bake it? ›

While the skin of a small young eggplant is edible, the skin becomes bitter on larger or older eggplants and should be peeled. When in doubt, the answer to, "Do you peel eggplant before cooking?" is yes, peel it. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the skin.

Place the aubergines in a large roasting tray, dot the cherry tomatoes around, and pop into the oven for 40 minutes, turning a couple of times.

Older recipes call for salting eggplant to draw out the bitter juices, but today's eggplants are less bitter (unless very large), so salting is largely unnecessary. It will, however, help the spongy flesh absorb less oil and crisp up like a dream.

Many recipes call for salting and rinsing eggplant before cooking it to draw out its bitterness. Brining can be used instead and has the added advantage of helping the eggplant keep its shape when it's cooked, whether your recipe calls for baking, frying, or grilling.

A raw eggplant is crunchy and flavorless, like a raw potato. When it's cooked, “it should turn fully tender, all the flesh should be somewhat custardy. If you have to, hammer it a bit, knock it around, let it start to collapse.”

Not cooking it in enough fat.

You need to be a little more generous in order for there to be enough oil on the outside of the eggplant to cook properly.

When looking at the exterior of the eggplant, check the stem and cap. Both should be green and fresh-looking. If they are starting to fade in color, that's an indicator that the vegetable may be spoiling. You'll also want to toss the eggplant if there is any mold on the stem or cap.

The salt draws out the excess moisture so the eggplant has a stronger flavor and a softer, more tender texture. Sometimes cooks salt cucumbers, zucchini, and cabbage for the same reason. Less water = more flavor. This method works for cubes, slices, and planks of eggplant.

However, if you can't get your head around cooking eggplant without salting it, here's how: sprinkle the cubed eggplant with 1 tsp salt, toss, leave in colander for 30 minutes. Rinse then thoroughly pat dry, toss with oil and pepper (NO SALT), roast per recipe.

Eggplant's meaty texture makes it a natural for cooking on the grill, whether you're cooking it outdoors or on an indoor grill pan—and grilling gives eggplant a great smoky flavor.

What type of eggplant is best for roasting? ›

Selecting Eggplant

Most supermarkets carry one type of eggplant, the globe variety, with Thai, Japanese, and even fairytale eggplant regularly available at local markets from July to October. Any of these varieties work well when roasted — just make sure you're picking a good eggplant from the start.

You might know them as eggplants or you might know them as aubergines, but they are exactly the same plant. The English prefer the latter name, while in North America we use the former.

If you are worried that the eggplant might be bitter, slice or cube it, then salt it liberally and allow it to drain for an hour or so before cooking. Putting salt on the eggplant triggers osmosis, which draws out excess moisture and the bitterness along with it.

Aside from its green top, the entire eggplant is edible: its purple skin, its white flesh, and the tiny seeds inside. Eggplant contains protein, fiber, and a wide range of vitamins and minerals as well as some antioxidants. Eggplant should be cooked before eating.

You would have to eat more than a dozen whole eggplants (at least!) in one sitting before reaching potentially toxic levels of solanine. (Read about solanine in sprouted potatoes for more information on the topic.) In fact, the compound can also be present in cooked eggplant.