Recipe: Pickled Eggplant

(04-05-2020)

This low-effort pickled eggplant recipe is hard to screw up. You can serve it to guests with Mediterranean food, or enjoy it straight from the fridge (my preference). This is my grandma’s recipe.

Ingredients

• globe or italian eggplant(s)
• white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
• veggie oil
• garlic (~1/2 head or more)
• sugar
• salt

Prep the eggplant

• slice eggplant into rounds around 1/4 inch thick
• salt and put slices in strainer to sweat for ~30 min
• rinse eggplants

Bake the eggplant

• preheat oven to 350°F
• rub baking sheet down with veggie oil
• arrange the slices in one layer
• brush the eggplants with more oil on top
• bake for 25 minutes
• remove from oven and flip each slice
• continue baking for 25 more minutes
• let eggplant slices cool for ~20 minutes before pickling

Make pickle juice

• make a mixture that’s 1 part vinegar, 2 parts warm water, one tablespoon of sugar, and a sprinkle of salt (warm water will dissolve sugar faster than cold water)

Pickle the eggplant

• peel and crush garlic into a bowl
• lay one layer of eggplants in a glass container (vinegar smell will permeate a plastic container)
• sprinkle crushed garlic over the layer
• continue layering eggplant slices and garlic until you’re out of eggplant slices
• pour pickle juice into the container until the eggplants are covered
• let this sit in the fridge for at least one day before enjoying–the longer they sit, the tastier they’ll be
• note: after a few days the garlic will turn blue, this is normal