Kansas City Food Blog

​Eggplant seems like a vegetable best buried under mountains of sauce and cheese. You can't go wrong with eggplant parmesan. That's a slimmed-down version of the dish in the photo above, with quick cooking directions below.

In picking out an eggplant at market, you want a firm, dark-colored vegetable with smooth and shiny skin. When you pick it up, it should feel lighter than you thought it might (pick up a few, this will make sense). Eggplants that are overripe will be soft and dull in color. The flesh is mushy and seedy -- it's the type of thing that turns people against what is essentially just a mild vegetable.

Eggplants come in colors and varieties from white to purple to deep black. The same vegetable can have several colors or striations. Raw eggplant is slightly bitter; that can be helped by degorging, in which you soak raw eggplant in salt water or heavily salt and then rinse sliced or chopped pieces. 
For the trimmed-down version of eggplant parmesan, you're going to start with olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Add a half a head of garlic and half a finely chopped onion. Cook until the pieces begin to brown; then add two diced heirloom tomatoes. Throw in a few teaspoons of sea salt and pepper over the top. Turn a bottle of balsamic vinegar over the top while counting to two. Let the mixture simmer, turning it over.

When the balsamic has reduced to where the liquid isn't visible on top of the tomatoes, add your eggplant cubes or slices. When the eggplants start to brown, the flavor should be right.

Place heaping spoonfuls of the mixture on ciabatta bread sliced a half-inch thick (just thick enough so the juice won't soak through). Layer thinly sliced mild provolone over the top. Place the slices in the toaster oven for four minutes on the medium bake setting. This should be enough to crisp the bread and bubble the cheese.

Without a heavy sauce and only a thin slice of cheese, you might find you like the taste of eggplant more than you thought.