Sauteed and eggplant caviar - a classic of the genre. But from such a simple and interesting vegetable, you can cook many other dishes. Its unusual taste and aroma can perfectly complement most products. Tomato with eggplant - a wonderful ensemble. A rich tomato flavor combined with a slightly fresh and unusual eggplant can be an excellent platform for culinary creativity. Both of these vegetables with the onset of the summer-autumn period appear on the table of each house. And almost every housewife in the arsenal has a couple or three of her favorite blue dishes. We will try to supplement this list with new and simple recipes.
Cooking secrets
Eggplant has rich, bitter and viscous juice. It doesn’t matter at all whether you are going to fry vegetables, pickle for the winter or bake eggplant with tomatoes in the oven; you must definitely get rid of juice in all cases, otherwise the dish will be bitter. Make it simple: cut the eggplant into cubes (circles, stripes) or cut the middle for stuffing and generously sprinkle with salt. Sprinkle, how much it is not a pity, the more salt there is, the quicker the blue ones will let the juice. After brown thick drops appear on the surface of the vegetable, rinse the chopped vegetables well with plain running water. Dry a little, and the eggplants will be completely ready for further cooking. You can simply stew eggplant with onions and tomatoes - a great snack for any table will be ready in a few minutes.
Eggplants are reduced when frying, so do not cut them too thinly, otherwise they will be easily torn, they may just crawl out in a frying pan, and you won’t be able to get a standing dish. And they also love butter, so watch out for its amount when frying.
Well, in principle, all the secrets, and now let's get down to the most interesting and important: a few simple, interesting and amazingly delicious recipes for cooking dishes, which include tomatoes and eggplant.
Moroccan Chicken with Vegetables
Don't let this exotic name scare you. For this dish you will need the simplest and most affordable ingredients, you can easily find them in any store. In fact, this is an ordinary oven-baked chicken with eggplant and tomatoes, seasoned with a special set of spices.
Dish ingredients
- 4 large chicken legs;
- 1 medium eggplant;
- 2 medium onions;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- 2-3 tomatoes (canned);
- vegetable oil;
- a couple of spoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice;
- half a glass of water;
- fresh finely chopped marjoram, cilantro and almonds (for sprinkling dishes);
- half a tablespoon of sweet ground paprika;
- salt to taste and spices (a pinch of each): ground turmeric, coriander, dill seeds, black pepper, fennel, ginger and caraway seeds.
How to cook
Cut the blue one into cubes without removing the peel, and prepare for cooking (as we said earlier). After a little pour oil on it and mix. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 degrees, oil the baking dish, place the chopped eggplant in it and send it to bake for 20 minutes, sometimes stirring. While the process is going on, we take the dish further.
Pour a little oil into a wide pan with a thick bottom, put on fire. When warmed up, add finely chopped onions and garlic. Simmer for about 5 minutes, cover, then add paprika, salt and spices (everything except marjoram). Stir for a minute, and then add chopped tomatoes. Pour in water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Cover, bring to a boil. You got a great fragrant sauce. Now put the legs on top, pour the sauce a little on top, cover and simmer for 10 minutes over low heat. Now it is worth stirring our chicken so that it is evenly stewed, and again leave it on fire under the lid for 10-15 minutes. Chicken should be soft.
It remains to connect everything together. Add baked eggplant, marjoram to the chicken and simmer with the lid open for several minutes. It is important to mix tastes and aromas. Chicken with eggplant and tomatoes is a great main course, any side dish can be offered to it, and it will also be an excellent cold appetizer. Sprinkle with greens and almonds on top before serving. The dish is tasty both in hot and in cold form, you will certainly like it.
Vegetables under cheese crust
Another simple but tasty recipe for baked eggplant with tomatoes and cheese.
You will need:
- several types of cheese (ricotta, parmesan and mozzarella);
- vegetable oil;
- a few cloves of garlic, salt, a pinch of sugar;
- several eggplant and large tomatoes, basil greens.
The number of products can be any, you can easily find out what and how much will be needed for you. Below is the process of how to cook eggplant with tomatoes. Photos, recipe and description are attached. But, it is better to take everything and more, this excellent dish flies off the table in a matter of minutes, and it’s easy to prepare.
How to cook
You need to bake eggplant in the oven. Line a baking sheet with baking paper, grease with vegetable oil and lay eggplant cut in rings on top. Salt and send to the oven, let covered with a golden brown.
Eggplant tomatoes are excellent companions, so the sauce will be tomato. Finely chop the tomatoes and send them to the pan, add the basil, chopped garlic, to taste salt and a pinch of sugar. Boil a little - and the sauce is ready!
Grate the parmesan. When the tomatoes with eggplant are ready, we proceed to the assembly.
In a baking dish we put everything in layers in the following order: tomato sauce, eggplant, sauce, ricotta mixed with mozzarella. Repeat another layer, but you can do it in one. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil, sprinkle with grated parmesan. Put in the oven to brown the top layer of cheese. Eggplants with tomatoes in the oven are ready.
Veal with vegetables in wine sauce
Great hearty and tasty dish. Perfect for the festive table and for every day. Summer vegetables, tomato sauce and herbs with garlic will add flavor and good mood.
You will need:
- potatoes, tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini;
- veal (or any other meat);
- half a glass of red wine;
- red and green peppers;
- onions and a couple of cloves of garlic;
- vegetable oil;
- chopped greens (thyme, sage, mint or to your taste);
- salt, pepper and spices as desired.
How to cook
Cut the meat into slices and lightly fry in oil, add chopped onion, and after a few minutes - chopped garlic. Stir from time to time during cooking. Pour in the wine, simmer, the wine should evaporate a little. Add finely chopped tomatoes (canned) and water - so that the sauce covers the meat. Simmer for about an hour over low heat under a lid.
Cut the eggplant rings (1 cm thick), cut the pepper into large pieces, potatoes and zucchini - the same way. Now fry the vegetables in oil, they should be covered with a golden brown. You can bake them on the grill, if there is such an opportunity, they will only benefit from this. Vegetables should be semi-prepared.
If the meat is almost ready - add vegetables to it, but do not bother, but simply shake the pan. So each piece will dip in the sauce and not lose shape. Salt and pepper, simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. After adding salt, greens and seasonings to your taste, shake the pan again, leave it on the fire for another 5 minutes. When the meat and potatoes with eggplant and tomatoes are ready, grasp the plates. Salad leaves, feta cheese and fresh crisp bread are perfect for the dish.