Mediterranean baked eggplant

• servings: 4 servings
• total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 large eggplants*

1 tsp cooking salt

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

80g fresh goat’s cheese or Danish feta

2 tbsp roughly chopped fresh basil

Mediterranean tomato sauce

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

800g canned crushed tomato

2 tbsp baby capers

⅓ cup kalamata olive slices

½ tsp cooking salt

¼ tsp black pepper

Crostini

1 rustic breadstick, cut into 12 slices on the diagonal

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Cut each eggplant in half lengthwise, then use a small sharp knife to score 2cm diamonds in the flesh. Take care not to cut through the skin. Rub the flesh of each eggplant with ¼ teaspoon salt, opening the cuts to get salt into the crevices. Set aside for 30 minutes, then squeeze gently like a sponge to remove excess water.

Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional). Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels and place on the prepared tray. Drizzle each eggplant with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake 30 minutes or until the flesh is soft (really big eggplants will take a little longer).

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until light golden. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, stir, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring regularly, for 20 minutes, until it becomes a thick, chunky sauce.

Spread the sauce on the eggplant, crumble goat’s cheese over and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes.

Prepare the crostini by brushing or drizzling olive oil on both sides of the bread slices. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Put into the oven for the last 10 minutes of the eggplant baking time, until fully crisp.

Sprinkle the chopped basil over the eggplant and serve with crostini on the side, using them for dunking.