How to make oven eggplants

Hello hello! Welcome to Paulina Cocina ❤️ The blog where we solve your healthy lunch in two minutes. Today's menu is Baked Eggplant , especially for you who bought three kilos the other day and don't know what to do with them. They're delicious, no one can deny it, but it's even better when we find a recipe like this one that helps us enhance their flavors.

Saying eggplant is like opening a door of infinite possibilities: because it occurs to us that we can make them stuffed or cut them thinly and make them Milanese, or pickled eggplant , or with lots of cheese and tomato like a lasagna, well, this is about the infinite possibilities of an eggplant.

Today we're going to talk a little bit about all of this, everything we need to know to cook eggplant in the oven , and we're going to share some key tips for when we have eggplant and a preheated oven.

About baked eggplants

What you need to know about eggplants

We love this fruit and are fortunate to find it fresh all year round . We can't deny that in summer we find some spectacular eggplants, and that's when we should make the most of them.

Eggplants don't have many secrets; let's see, it's just a matter of knowing how to prepare them and having the right recipe for cooking them. 

How to avoid excess liquid and bitterness

Something very typical that happens to anyone who doesn't know anything is that they start cooking and then find themselves with some eggplant juice with a slightly bitter taste that doesn't help at all.

One way to eliminate this annoying liquid is to salt them completely and then let them rest for a while before cooking. The liquid they expel during cooking can act as a double-edged sword, either brightening our lives with its magic or ruining the entire preparation if we didn't anticipate it.

• Cut the eggplants into the desired shapes and sprinkle plenty of salt on top to let them rest for 30 minutes. After a while, you'll notice the eggplant "sweating" and developing a light layer of liquid on top.
• Then we just have to drain them and wash them to remove the excess salt.
• Finally, it is important to dry them with kitchen paper before cooking.

How to keep eggplants in good condition

Especially if we store them raw, the ideal place for them is in the coolest part of the refrigerator , and consume them immediately. This last point is crucial because they become soft afterward, and you have to know how to handle soft eggplants.

If you bought a bunch of eggplants and were planning to freeze them, it's best to cook them first and store them fresh. Do it this way, it's for your own good.

How to choose the best eggplants

Whether we're looking for large or small eggplants, they should always be firm to the touch . We'll also choose those with smooth skin, a deep purple or black color, and no bruises or blemishes.

Choosing good vegetables is a fundamental part of being successful in this type of preparation.

Baking

It's a delicious way to cook vegetables. In some ways, the oven makes our lives easier because once it starts cooking, we forget about it for a while and can get on with other things, always checking because we don't want burnt vegetables, but we know the oven does most of the work on its own.

Here we share a complete , free class on baking vegetables taught by Paulina. All the tricks and secrets, including how long to bake, how to bake, and in what order. With this method, all the vegetables come out super crispy.

Baked eggplants, but whole

A very common way to eat eggplant is whole . Very popular in Spanish recipes, it's very simple to make and the flavor is delicious.

• Before cooking whole eggplants in the oven, wash them thoroughly and then remember to make small incisions with a fork to allow steam to escape. We don't want them to explode. This way, they also cook better on the inside.
• Then we spread them with a little oil on top and salt.
• Now we put them in the oven and let them cook for 40 to 45 minutes. After 20 minutes, we turn them over and let them cook again.
• Ready, when they come out it is important that we let them cool for 15 minutes and during this time they finish cooking.

I love you, eggplant. Bye!

Baked eggplant recipe

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• 2 garlic cloves
• Chopped parsley (2 tablespoons)
• Olive oil
• Salt

How to make oven eggplants

1. Preheat the oven to 180º while you prepare the eggplants.
2. Clean the eggplants and cut them in half. Then, make lattice-shaped cuts in the flesh, without piercing the skin, to distribute the heat evenly.
3. Place the halves face up and season with salt to taste.
4. In another bowl, blend the chopped garlic with chopped parsley, a pinch of salt, and 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix everything together until well combined.
5. Spread this mixture over the eggplants, distributing it evenly.
6. Place the tray in the oven and cook for 30 minutes with heat from above and below.