Roasted Eggplant Spread Recipe

How to make it

---

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (here at high altitude I have to crank the heat, but if you prefer a longer slower roasting time, do whatever your little heart desires).
• Peel the eggplants and cut them lengthwise into four pieces each. Lay them in a roasting pan and sprinkle both sides of the eggplant with sea salt. Set them aside to let the salt do its thing (salting the eggplant draws out the moisture and bitterness).
• Meanwhile, roughly chop the onion and garlic. Halve the tomatoes.
• When the eggplant is weeping- about 10 to 15 minutes- blot with a paper towel to remove the excess moisture. Cut up the slices a bit. Add the onion pieces, garlic and tomatoes. Drizzle it all with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Stir with a wooden spoon to coat.
• Face the tomatoes cut side up. Sprinkle the whole shebang with dried herbs (no need to waste fresh herbs for this roasting process).
• Roast in the oven for an hour or more, as needed. The eggplant should be very tender. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool a bit.
• Spoon the eggplant mixture into a food processor bowl; add the olives and agave nectar; cover and pulse until the mixture is finely diced- or you can make it less chunky and puree it. I like mine with some texture.
• Scoop it out into a bowl and add the capers and chopped fresh parsley. Taste test for seasoning adjustments- more salt? Vinegar? Olive oil? Some pepper? Cover and chill until serving.
• I like this tapenade best at room temperature; so I took it out of the fridge about fifteen minutes before serving.
• Serve with pita crisps or flatbread, corn chips, or toasted slices of bread.
• Cook's Note: I just had to edit here and mention how delicious this tapenade was in a pasta sauce. We had just shy of a cup left over, and the next night I made a quick sauce with it- adding more garlic (don't I always add more garlic?), chopped Italian parsley, 14 oz. fire roasted tomatoes, about 3/4 cup organic Better Than Bouillon broth, and some (vegans please ignore) fabulous leftover organic beef meatloaf, crumbled. It made a savory, hearty ragu. We served it with buckwheat spiral pasta. And we scraped our plates clean.
• Copyright © 2006-2007 Karina's Kitchen: Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess. All rights reserved.