Air Fryer Roasted Zaatar Eggplant (Video Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

How do you know when eggplant is done roasting? ›

Oven Roasting Method

Place on a baking sheet under the broiler and let the eggplant roast for 20-30 minutes, giving a quarter turn every 5-7 minutes. Eggplant is finished roasting when it is soft, tender and collapsing.

Many cooks argue that salting eggplant and letting it rest, or "sweat," for an hour or so before cooking draws out the vegetable's bitter juices.

Roasting. To roast eggplant in the oven, preheat the oven to 475 F, toss, brush, or drizzle your cut eggplant with olive oil, and place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until the eggplant is tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

Older recipes call for salting eggplant to draw out the bitter juices, but today's eggplants are less bitter (unless very large), so salting is largely unnecessary. It will, however, help the spongy flesh absorb less oil and crisp up like a dream.

Mushy veggies are also often the result of overcooking. When the interior is loaded with moisture, you have to cook it for much longer to evaporate all of the water and avoid the interior having the unappealing, spongy, raw texture that eggplant and zucchini are notorious for.

The skin is edible, so you can leave it on when preparing eggplant. Cut off the stem and then cut into your desired shape—slices and cubes are popular options. Cut off and discard any parts that are turning brown. Those parts are more bitter than the normally creamy white interior.

Eggplants can have the alkaloid solanine, which can give it a bitter taste. “Another compound possibly contributing to eggplant's bitterness is anthocyanin, which is a phytochemical that gives eggplant its pretty purple hue and can act like an antioxidant when we consume it,” says Nichole Dandrea-Russert, MS, RDN.

Many recipes call for eggplants to be salted and rinsed to draw out any bitter juices, but this shouldn't be necessary if they're fresh. If the seeds are too defined or feel hard, the eggplant may be old and should be salted.

Brining adds flavor and texture to eggplants. "Mix spices and salt with water, then soak sliced eggplant in the brine for 30 minutes before cooking.

Many recipes have you salt the eggplant or soak it in salt water for up to 2 hours, then pat dry before cooking. This helps remove some of the bitterness and prevents the eggplant from tasting chewy.

What is the secret to tender eggplant? ›

One of the secrets to cooking tender-but-never-mushy eggplant is salt. First, Stilo cuts her eggplant into the desired shape (rounds, cubes, planks, etc.), and then sprinkles the eggplant evenly with a generous amount of salt.

I tend to soak the slices in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoon of salt for about 30-45 minutes. It doesn't have to do with bitterness, but I find that in doing this, the fried eggplant turns out less greasy," Jenkins says.

Frying eggplant has been done since the beginning of time, resulting in a tender and fleshy eggplant with a crispy outer crunch. Take a look at the Sicilian Eggplant recipe below for some tips and tricks on how to fry eggplant perfectly every time.

The magic is happening. The salt draws out the excess moisture so the eggplant has a stronger flavor and a softer, more tender texture.

Soaking eggplant in water and vinegar helps remove some of the vegetable's natural bitterness.

However, eggplants also contain a substance, solanine, which is used to defend themselves against fungi and insects. It is precisely on this substance that the bitter taste of the eggplants depends. To eliminate it, the most common methods are soaking in water and vinegar and the salt technique.