Garlic-Stuffed Salt-Brined Eggplant
Perfect for any occasion — they'll dress up any dinner! To brine eggplant this way, you'll want ripe, firm, small fruit, ideally all the same size.
Milla
Recipe author
Garlic-Stuffed Salt-Brined Eggplant
Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe
By weight of the composition:
Proteins 25 %
1 g
Fats 0 %
0 g
Carbohydrates 75 %
3 g
11 kcal
GI:
100
/
0
/
0
- Wash the eggplants well and trim both ends.
- Pour water into a large pot for blanching, add salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the eggplants in (in a colander, so they're easy to lift out later) and keep them in the boiling water for up to five minutes. The key is not to overcook them, or they'll fall apart — so watch the blanching closely. This step removes the bitterness.
- Now cool the eggplants and move them to a cutting board. Lay another board on top and press lightly to squeeze out the excess water — just don't flatten them into pancakes. :)
- With a sharp knife, slice each eggplant lengthwise but not all the way through, leaving about two centimeters (¾ inch) uncut, so it opens like a "book." The filling goes inside.
- Peel the garlic and wash and dry the herbs. Slice the garlic thinly and chop the herbs, but not too finely.
- Fill each eggplant with the garlic and herbs. Try to keep the filling tucked in so the eggplants look whole, with the filling inside.
- Pack the stuffed eggplants into a pot for brining (a glass jar works too, but I find an enameled pot easier).
- For the brine: dissolve the salt in a liter of cold water, add the bay leaf and peppercorns, and boil it, then cool it to room temperature. Pour the cooled brine over the eggplants and cover the pot.
- If you like, set a plate with a weight on top of the eggplants — nothing heavy, a pint jar of water is enough. Keep the pot somewhere warm for 2 to 3 days (at 68–77°F / 20–25°C). In that time the brine will start to ferment, turn cloudy, and develop bubbles. Once that happens, move the eggplants somewhere cold, like the fridge. About a week later, the garlic-stuffed salted eggplant is ready.
- To serve, slice them into rounds along with the filling and drizzle with vegetable oil. A wonderful appetizer for the table!
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Eggplant - 24 kcal/100g
- Garlic - 143 kcal/100g
- Bay leaf - 313 kcal/100g
- Parsley greens - 45 kcal/100g
- Celery - 12 kcal/100g
- Celery Roots - 32 kcal/100g
- Black pepper peas - 255 kcal/100g
- Salt - 0 kcal/100g
- Water - 0 kcal/100g
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