Eggplant Confit is not something that I have the luxury of making often. And luxurious it is. Eggplant Confit is the elegant cousin of baba ganouj – eggplant is slowly roasted into silky goodness in a bath of golden olive oil, scented with garlic and basil.
It’s been a difficult summer in the vegetable garden this year – it’s been so hot and humid. The zucchini weren’t producing female flowers, blight seems imminent, and the variety of insects attacking the heat-stressed plants was daunting.
But finally, the heat wave has broken, and the garden is covered in dew in the early morning hours. The plants look refreshed, and as relieved as I that August weather promises to be more hospitable. The only vegetable that has produced in abundance so far this year is the Japanese eggplant – Pingtung Long. I grow it every year but I’m usually satisfied when the eggplant makes a cameo in a lovely ratatouille. Rarely does the eggplant produce in such numbers that the eggplant takes center stage. I’ve never harvested so much eggplant that I’ve needed to look for ways to use it, until now.
One mistake I’ve made over and over again is pulling beautiful vegetables out of the garden, and then stashing them in the crisper until I’ve figured out how to make good use of them, or until they were no longer appealing. I finally learned that when veg comes out of the garden, if it doesn’t fit into my immediate dinner plans, I must find a way to preserve it. Which is how and why these lovely eggplant became Eggplant Confit. I couldn’t risk finding them wrinkly and unloved in the back of the crisper after being so elated at finding them in the garden. That would be just so wrong.
You’ve heard of duck confit, I’m sure. We typically think of confit as cooking any meat very slowly in it’s own rendered fat. However, you can “confit” vegetables as well. You want to use a good extra-virgin olive oil to ensure that you’re transforming the veg into velvety richness without any bitterness. This Eggplant Confit is exquisitely velvety and rich. The garlic adds a roundness, and the basil adds a top note. The anchovies melt into the center and enhance the flavor of the eggplant, rather overwhelming it.
Eggplant Confit
Ingredients
- 6 or 7 Japanese eggplant
- kosher salt
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 anchovy filets
- dried thyme and black pepper
- 1 1/2 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven – Preheat the oven to 375 ℉.
- Prepare the eggplant and slice the garlic – Cut the stem off each eggplant and slice the eggplant lengthwise. Sprinkle the eggplant slices with kosher salt and let them sit for about ten minutes. After the eggplant slices have begun to sweat, blot them dry with a paper towel. Slice the garlic lengthwise as finely as you can.
- Fill the baking dish – Lay the eggplant, skin side down, in a baking dish. Spread the garlic, anchovies, thyme on and around the eggplant. Give it a few grinds of black pepper. Pour in the oil.
- Bake – Bake until the eggplant is soft and has collapsed in the oil.
- Serve – However you serve it, you probably won't be able to eat it all in one sitting. Stash the rest in a quart-sized Mason jar and tuck in a few leaves of basil. Oh my.
This Eggplant Confit will not get lost in the back of your fridge. Just imagine a slice of fresh-baked sourdough bread slathered with Eggplant Confit. It’s heavenly. You could also layer it into a lasagna, spread it on a pizza with basil pesto, or simply eat it with a spoon. Once you’ve tasted it, you’ll continue looking for ways to fold it into your meals until, suddenly, the jar of Eggplant Confit is empty.
