Grilled Eggplant With Chermoula Recipe
Image by iStock
(The Nosher via JTA) – From bulbous and egg-shaped to small and thin, the eggplant (or if you’re British like me, the aubergine) is a staple fruit within Sephardic Jewish cooking. Originating in India or perhaps even China, eggplant seeds are thought to have traveled along the Silk Road into the hands of Jews and Arabs as early as the 18th century. From there, eggplant has been used so often in Jewish cooking that some refer to it as the “Jewish apple.”
Eggplant is now enjoying a wonderful resurgence, particularly in Israel, where it is enjoyed in countless salads or served whole and roasted topped with meat, tabbouleh and often gobs of nutty tahini. No meal in Israel seems complete without a portion of smoky, roasted eggplant.
It’s so incredibly versatile: Eggplant can be stewed, stuffed, pickled, roasted or grilled. Historically known for its bitterness, modern varieties don’t necessarily require salting, although I always do just in case any bitterness remains, and especially when grilling, as this will reduce the amount of oil that is soaked up.
In this recipe I serve eggplant with a North African spice paste called chermoula, which is herby, rich and pungent. This fantastic sauce is begging to be made when the weather is warm and the plates move outside.
Chermoula — a marvelous mixture of coriander, parsley, chili, paprika, garlic, cumin and olive oil — is a Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian mainstay. While it is traditionally served with fish, I love it with grilled meats, fish, veggies or even couscous.
Ingredients:
For the eggplant:
3 medium eggplants
2 tablespoons fine sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 cup olive oil
For the chermoula:
1 cup packed coriander leaves
1/2 cup packed parsley leaves
1/2 cup mint leaves
3 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup preserved lemon juice or 1/3 cup of regular lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 teaspoons harissa paste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup olive oil
Sea salt, to taste
Good pinch of crushed saffron strands
Directions:
-
Preheat the oven to 200 F.
-
Next, cut the eggplant lengthways into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cover with salt, layer in a strainer and leave to drain for 40 minutes.
-
While the eggplant is draining, make the chermoula. Put all the ingredients with only 4 tablespoons of the olive oil into a food processor with a good pinch of salt. Blend to a thick paste and stir in enough of the remaining oil to make a sauce.
-
Pat the eggplants dry and in batches, brush with oil and in a griddle pan, grill over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes each side, until golden. Keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining slices.
-
When all slices have been grilled, lay on a platter and dollop with chermoula, a sprinkling of coriander and pinch of sea salt. Serves 8-10.
Ali Alt is a food writer, blogger and partner to her husband, Jonathan, the founder of the Farmer J restaurants in London. Follow her blog at www.Baliboosta.com and on instragram, @baliboosta.
The Nosher food blog offers a dazzling array of new and classic Jewish recipes and food news, from Europe to Yemen, from challah to shakshuka and beyond. Check it out at www.TheNosher.com.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
