Overseas guest, eggplant, good both in summer and winter

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The long-awaited time of all gardeners has come, the time of harvest. And even those southern heat-loving cultures, with which there was the most trouble, are already beginning to ripen for many. One of these is eggplant, the seedlings of which were planted one of the first in snowy February. And today we will talk about what can be prepared from it, about the benefits of this product and how to preserve its valuable properties for the winter.

Many of us fell in love with this heat-loving vegetable for its unusual taste, a bit reminiscent of mushrooms, which can give any dish a unique piquancy. Yes, and the set of useful substances in it is such that those who have eggplant in their diet improve the activity of the heart and the condition of blood vessels, and the development of atherosclerosis is prevented. They help the kidneys work, cleanse the intestines and bile ducts.

Now, at the end of summer, even in the middle lane, you can already taste real seasonal southern vegetables. And eggplant is one of them. In the recipe books of many countries with a hot climate there is this vegetable. And he came to our table. What kind of dishes are not with him, these are snacks, and side dishes, and soups, and preparations in jars for the winter, and fried on coals and baked in the oven.

Those who have been to the Mediterranean must have tasted some eggplant dishes. And for those who have tried moussaka with eggplant and minced lamb, you will want to cook such a hearty and tasty dish when you come home.

For this dish you will need:

– 3 – 4 eggplants;

– ½ cup olive oil;

– 1 onion;

– 2 cloves of garlic;

– 500 g of lamb or ground beef;

– 3 tomatoes;

– 200 g of hard cheese;

– ¼ cup dry red wine;

– salt and pepper.

To prepare the sauce you need to take:

– 2 tbsp. tablespoons of butter;

– 2.5 tbsp. milk;

– 2 tbsp. spoons of wheat flour;

– nutmeg;

– 2 eggs.

Wash the eggplant, remove the stems and chop. Salt and 20 min. wait to relieve the bitterness. Then squeeze and drain the juice that stands out. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant until golden brown. Then lay them out on a paper towel to remove excess fat. When fried, eggplant absorbs a lot of oil, and dieters don’t like it very much.

Next, fry the onion and garlic, a little salt and adding a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, then the vegetables will release their flavor faster.

Now you need to overcook the minced meat for 5 – 7 minutes, add a little salt and pepper, pour in the wine. Simmer for 10 minutes.

At this time, you can do the sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add flour, stirring constantly so that lumps do not form. Pour milk in a thin stream, bring the sauce to a thickening. Add a pinch of crushed nutmeg. Remove the sauce from the stove. Whisk the eggs and add them to the sauce.

Well, put everything in layers in a baking dish: eggplant, half grated cheese, minced meat with onions and garlic, chopped tomatoes. Pour in the sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese. It remains to bake moussaka in the oven at a temperature of 180 degrees C for 40 minutes. And you can serve it as a hot dish.

 

As for snacks, they look very colorful and elegant on the festive table. turrets from eggplant.

For 800 g of eggplant you will need:

– 4 medium round tomatoes;

– 200 g of pickled cheese;

– a bunch of parsley;

– 3 tbsp. l. mayonnaise;

– 2 cloves of garlic;

– salt;

– oil for frying.

Wash the eggplant, cut off the tails, cut into circles and salt. Leave for half an hour to give juice, rinse and blot with a paper towel.

Sliced ​​eggplant should be fried in a pan, then remove excess oil.

Finely chop the greens, chop the garlic, mix everything with cheese and mayonnaise. We smear the resulting dressing in layers, alternating eggplant and tomatoes cut into rings. Then we send the turrets to the refrigerator for an hour to soak in the juice.

And for those who would like to plunge into the atmosphere of the French countryside, we can advise you to prepare an original vegetable appetizer – ratatouille. Although this dish is considered rustic, it is also served in expensive restaurants with Provencal cuisine.

To make the dish look better, try to choose vegetables so that, when cut, they are the same diameter.

For this dish you will need:

– 2 eggplants;

– 1 zucchini;

– 3 tomatoes;

– a bunch of parsley;

– ½ pod of hot pepper;

– 2 tbsp. tablespoons of olive oil;

– salt to taste.

For sauce:

– 400 g of tomatoes;

– 1 bell pepper;

– 1 onion;

– ½ teaspoon of sugar;

– 2 tbsp. tablespoons of olive oil for frying;

– salt and pepper to taste.

We cut vegetables into rings. Sprinkle eggplant with salt for half an hour. Let’s start making the sauce.

For the sauce, finely chop the bell pepper and onion. Blanch the tomatoes. And fry for 15 minutes. all in a frying pan, a little salt.

Pour half of the sauce into a baking dish. Then we vertically expose all the vegetables, alternating the rings with each other. Put chopped and mixed pepper, garlic and parsley on top.

We put for baking in the oven for an hour at a temperature of 180 degrees C, covered with a sheet of foil. Serve with the remaining sauce.

 

And of course, speaking of eggplant dishes, how not to remember caviar “overseas”, eggplant. And my friend Marina, a great master of homemade preparations, shared her recipe for making caviar, treating me to her signature eggplant caviar, which she can make in a slow cooker without adding vinegar.

To prepare eggplant caviar you will need:

– 2 kg of eggplant;

– 5 cloves of garlic;

– 5 pieces. bell pepper;

– 5 pieces. carrots;

– 5 pieces. Luke;

– 1 glass of sunflower oil;

– 5 pieces. tomatoes;

– 1 PC. hot pepper;

– 2 tbsp. spoons of salt;

– 1/3 st. spoons of sugar;

– a bunch of parsley.

Wash vegetables, tomatoes, carrots, onions and eggplants, peel, pepper from seeds. Mince parsley, pepper and garlic. We cut vegetables into cubes, three carrots on a grater. Mix tomatoes with salt and sugar and leave for 15 minutes.

Pour oil into the multicooker. Throw in the tomatoes and other vegetables. Let simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. 5 minutes before cooking, lay the spices with parsley. We put the finished caviar in sterile jars, and in order for the workpiece to be stored for a long time, pour a spoonful of sunflower oil into each jar on top and quickly roll up the lid.

 

Alina Fedorova.

Author’s photo

Message Overseas guest, eggplant, good both in summer and winter first appeared on Moscow truth.

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