Last week we were invited for dinner at my uncle’s girlfriend’s stylish downtown loft. Marina is from Russia, hence the dinner was a blur of delicious Russian dishes.
Including a picture-perfect plum tart and piroshki [that contained no eggplant and will be featured regardless because they were so yummy].
Marina also made an eggplant dish that she called “eggplant caviar.” It consists of eggplant, tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots, and parsley, chopped up and simmered into a caponata-like salad. The flavor was similar to imam bayildi, but with less tomato-ness.
Here’s how to make it:
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| Cube the eggplants and chop the onions, carrots, tomatoes, etc. |
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| Garlic choppin'. |
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| After sauteeing the eggplants in oil, with salt added, toss in the onions. |
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| Then add the carrots and garlic a little while later. |
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| The author demonstrates proper stirring technique. |
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| After the eggplant-onion-carrots mixture has cooked down, add the tomatoes. |
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| A little while later, add chopped parsley. |
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| Simmer the mixture with a closed pot until it looks like this. Then season with more salt and black pepper, to taste. |
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| The result. Like most Russian dishes, it is simple yet delicious. (I say "yet" because I'm accustomed to putting a million spices in my food. But it's not always necessary -- a well-salted dish is often just as tasty.) |
