After delighting you with recipes such as tomatoes in oil or crushed olives, with this article we cannot fail to mention raw eggplant in oil which we also produce for our customers (you can find them here).
Continuing our section on preserved foods in oil, these foods so beloved by Italians, let’s look at a recipe for preparing eggplant in oil and later, not in this article, we will also discuss homemade artichokes in oil.
You should know that you can proceed in two ways: raw or with cooking. Although here we want to show you the best raw recipes in oil, know that preparing eggplant with cooking allows you to consume them without waiting times. For this reason, we also leave you a quick and simple recipe that involves blanching the eggplant in water and vinegar. You will see it below.
First of all, however, we must say that to obtain an exquisite delicacy, good recipes and your skills are not enough, but you must know how to select the best ingredients. What should eggplants be like to be preserved raw in oil?
Let’s see.
INDEX:
You don’t need many ingredients but those you do need must be of good quality to obtain an excellent result. Then, as we will see below, some variations require the addition of some elements, but basically we must have:
What matters when you select eggplants is that they have reached proper ripeness and are picked from your garden. If you don’t have the possibility to grow them, it doesn’t matter, but remember that they must be in season. Furthermore, they must not have seeds, they must be firm and fleshy. If you rely on your trusted greengrocer, make it clear that you want to prepare them raw in oil, so that they can give you the best ones.
As we were saying, we leave you here a simple recipe with cooked eggplant to give you the possibility of having a recipe with a preparation that does not require long waiting times.
Once you have chosen the ingredients and selected the best eggplants, you can proceed with the preparation.
Read Also: Olives in Salt and Oil, Preparation and Storage
First of all peel the eggplants and cut them into strips. Put them in a bowl and cover them with coarse salt, letting them rest for 12 hours. After this period the eggplants will have lost their water, so drain and squeeze them. Then immerse them in boiling water and vinegar and cook them briefly, for a couple of minutes. Then let them cool and squeeze them to remove the water. Meanwhile prepare the ingredients you prefer to season them. In addition to extra virgin olive oil, you can add a little garlic, mint and chili pepper. After sanitizing the jars, place the eggplants inside with these ingredients, adding oil up to the rim.
Here, then, your eggplants in oil with vinegar are ready.
Did you see what a simple method?
If instead you don’t want to blanch the eggplants, follow this recipe.
As we saw above, proceed by peeling the eggplants, cutting them into strips and leaving them in a bowl covered with salt for half a day. After removing the excess water and after squeezing them well, you can place them in a sanitized jar, where you will then add garlic and a mint leaf. If to your liking (or your guests’) you can add chili pepper and cover everything with extra virgin olive oil.
For closing the jars you will have to wait at least one day. During this period you will have to top up the oil until the eggplants are completely covered. Once this is done, close the jars and wait 10 days before consuming them.
Up to here we have seen simple recipes, but now we also want to try the Neapolitan, Calabrian and Sicilian variations. Let’s start with the first.
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To prepare excellent raw eggplant in oil Neapolitan style the difference is made by the ingredients. If you read the other methods above, after cutting the eggplants into strips, put them in a bowl and sprinkle them with salt to free them from excess water. After waiting at least half a day, you can rinse them and put them in previously sanitized jars.
Add finely chopped garlic and chili pepper. Then also add fragrant oregano, filling, layer by layer, your jars and covering everything with extra virgin olive oil. Once this is done, let the open jars rest and top up the oil before closing them. And here your raw eggplant in oil Neapolitan style is ready. However, wait a couple of weeks before consuming them.
As the Sicilian recipe we will see below also requires, to prepare raw eggplant in oil Calabrian style it is necessary to use vinegar, but in this case in large quantities, about 1 liter for 1.5 kg of eggplant.
Proceed with cleaning and cutting the eggplants into strips. Then salt them and put them in a colander placing a weight on top to make them lose their vegetable water. After 1 day, squeeze them and place them in a pot covering them abundantly with white vinegar. Then close with a lid and let rest for 1 day.
Once this procedure is done and the indicated time has passed, you can drain and squeeze them and then let them rest inside the colander for a few hours to eliminate the last excess vinegar.
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Then prepare a bowl with finely chopped garlic and chili pepper. Then add oregano and finally add the eggplants. Mix well and then jar, little by little. Add extra virgin olive oil and close with the lid. Then let rest for one month before consuming them.
We now close with the Sicilian recipe for eggplant in oil.
To prepare raw eggplant in oil Sicilian style the ingredients are the same as the Calabrian recipe, with the difference that little vinegar is needed. Also in this recipe the cleaning and cutting phase of the eggplants is the same. In the same way proceed to cover the vegetable with coarse salt to eliminate excess water. Only after at least 12 hours can you jar the eggplants in sanitized jars with a couple of garlic cloves, chili pepper and oregano.
At this point, when the jar is full you can turn it upside down to eliminate the last residue of vegetable water. Once this is done pour a little vinegar and let rest for a few hours. After this period you can completely cover the eggplants with extra virgin olive oil. Once the jars are closed you can let them rest for at least 2 weeks before consuming them.
Now that you know all the recipes for eggplant in oil, which one do you think you will use?
Read also: Extra Virgin Olive Oil Price, Here is the Cost of Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
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