Eggplant in Tomato Sauce
Appetizers Fasting Recipes Budget Recipes Vegetables Gluten-Free Recipes Greek
My favorite from vacation in Kefalonia. Prepared this way, the eggplants melt in your mouth. Don't think too much about the amount of oil used - Greeks don't think about it and that's why their food is so good. Speaking of that, yesterday at the market I heard a conversation between two men. One says: do you know why men cook better than women? The other: ???? The first: because they don't skimp on ingredients and don't think about calories 😋 Certainly Greeks don't think about such things. This simple version I ate at Avithos Taverna... almost every day.
Ingredients
2 small eggplants (about 200 g each)
150 ml Greek-style tomato sauce
1 level tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves
1/4 bunch parsley
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
salt
Servings: 2 (main course); 4-5 (appetizer)
How to prepare eggplant in tomato sauce
- Cut the eggplants into 1.5 cm thick slices. Pour oil into a wide pot and fry the eggplant slices until lightly browned on each side (about 3 minutes per side). Fry the eggplants in batches without crowding, adding oil with each batch (I fried in three batches adding 1/3 of the oil each time). Transfer the fried eggplants to a bowl.
- If oil remains in the pot, drain it. Add the crushed garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the sauce, tomato paste and half of the chopped parsley.
- Arrange the eggplant slices back in the pot. Sprinkle with salt. Pour 200 ml water and shake the pan to settle the slices in the sauce. With a spoon, take some sauce and pour over the eggplants on top.
- Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer covered for 10 minutes. During cooking, don't stir the pot, just shake it back and forth so the eggplants don't break. If after this time the oil hasn't gathered on top of the sauce (on the edge of the pot), simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley. Serve warm with fresh bread. They're also good reheated.
Frying eggplants in oil
Eggplants over tomato sauce
Eggplants simmering in sauce
