Recipes

Pickled Eggplant

  • Serves

    makes 4-6

With their delicate flavor, tender skin and paucity of seeds, Japanese eggplants are a fine substitute for the more common and larger eggplant found in local grocery stores.

Ingredients

  • 4-6 small Japanese eggplants
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tbsp. ground walnuts
  • 12 tsp. cayenne
  • Olive oil to cover

Instructions

Step 1

Poach eggplants in gently boiling water for 5-10 minutes or until slightly soft. Slit each eggplant from blossom end almost to stem end twice, so that eggplant splays into four "fingers" attached to stem end.

Step 2

Mix salt, walnuts, and cayenne in food processor into a smooth paste. Rub paste on exposed eggplant flesh, reassemble the eggplants, and place in a tall jar, stem ends upward, for 12 hours.

Step 3

Discard brine at bottom of jar. Fill jar with oil, covering eggplants completely. A ball of foil on top of eggplants will keep them submerged.

Step 4

Close jars, and pickle for 10-14 days. Refrigerated, they will keep for 2 weeks.

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