Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Pot Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Cumin and Double Tomato Flatbread

If you have any questions about what to do with late summer eggplant, I have the answer. Make this fragrant, delicious spread and enjoy it with some flatbread. This was in the Paula Wolfert article in the May issue of Food and Wine. Then, I saw these double tomato flatbreads on Yeastspotting a few weeks ago, and the two seemed to belong together. The eggplant is cooked whole on top of the stove, and then the meltingly tender flesh is combined with garlic, olive oil, canned, diced tomato, fresh herbs, and spices. This is a mixture that I knew would be a good one, and it smelled fantastic as it cooked, but the flavor was even better than I anticipated once I tasted it. I imagined there would be leftovers for lunch the next day, but the entire bowl was emptied quickly. I’m hoping to get a couple of eggplants at the farmers’ market this week so I can make it again but as a double batch this time.

I used a dutch oven which was heated on top of the stove, and the big, one and a quarter pound eggplant was pierced and placed in it. It was covered and left to cook in the dry pan over low heat for 40 minutes. The eggplant was turned after 20 minutes. Then, it was placed in a colander in the sink and cut down one side so it could drain. Once cool, the flesh was scraped into a large skillet, and minced garlic, tomatoes, olive oil, parsley, cilantro, paprika, cumin, and cayenne were added. This was cooked until the liquid evaporated, and then lemon juice was squeezed into the mixture.

Making the flatbreads couldn’t have been easier. I wasn’t able to find the suggested tomato powder for the dough, so I used tomato paste. That was combined with flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and paprika in a food processor. Water and vinegar were added while the processor was running. Sun-dried tomatoes were added and pulsed to combine, and then the dough sat in the food processor for about 30 minutes. The dough was divided, rolled into rounds, and quickly cooked in a hot cast iron skillet until it bubbled and was browned. We did have a few pieces of bread left over because this made eight pieces, and they freeze and re-heat nicely.

Any flatbread would work fine here, and if I don’t have time to make homemade flatbread next time I’ll probably buy pita to go with it, but this tomato bread with bits of chewy sun-dried tomato was a very good match. The cumin, cayenne, and paprika in the eggplant added depth of flavor, and the herbs and lemon perked it up well. I could have made a meal of just the eggplant and flatbread, and with a few olives on the side and a glass of wine, it’s a great way to enjoy summer coming to an end.



26 comments:

  1. I love baba ghanoush, so I'm sure I would love this dish as well, and you make it sound so easy, too. :)

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  2. Yummy yummy! A heavenly combination. Flatbread and roasted eggplants/tomatoes are to die for.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. Wow, that look so delicious. Eggplant is my favorite vegetable, and that flat bread with tomatoes sounds so tempting,

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  4. You do make this sound so simple and I can almost smell the fragrance as this little number cooks. I want some now :)

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  5. Baba ganoush is a real favorite of mine, but you have totally kicked it up a few notches! Delish!!!
    *kisses* HH

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  6. I adore eggplant...in any form. And you've done great things to add to the flavor, Lisa. Glad to hear the flatbread was so simple to make. What a super dish!

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  7. Perfect combination. And the use of egg-plant cooked in the oven is a great solution for old vegetables!

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  8. Finally...something to make with eggplant instead of babaganoush (not that I don't like baba) ;)

    I wonder if you could make tomato powder from dehydrated tomatoes?

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  9. This sounds amazing. And definitely a new and interesting way to cook with eggplant. I am still trying to get my husband to like eggplant; it's growing on him, slowly! :)

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  10. I did similar to eggplant recently, scraping the flesh after roasting them and adding them in a okra-tomato stew. I could jolly well be satisfied with this as the sauce for pasta since I don't bake, so no flatbreads for me :O

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  11. Nice job on the flatbreads! I love it when someone tries my recipes. :-)

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  12. Oh my gosh that looks so delicious. I love eggplant.

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  13. I love the sound of the flatbread! I am always looking for ones that can be made in a skillet. The eggplant sounds good too - like the perfect match with the tomato flavor in the flatbread.

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  14. This double tomato flatbread looks and sounds so good- I can think of so many ways to use it!

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  15. I lover flatbread!! This whole recipe looks delicious!

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  16. I read that article and it looked amazing, what a delicious treat. I cannot wait to give it a try. I love egg plant and with tomatoes and cumin, this just sounds like heaven.

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  17. I absolutely love the texture of super soft and creamy eggplant. This looks fantastic Lisa! :D

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  18. the flatbread sounds really outstanding--i think i'm the #1 fan of the sun-dried tomato. and wow--what a sloppy-delicious batch of veggie goo on top. truly scrumptious dish!

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  19. This eggplant spread sounds amazing and so good on the wonderful flatbread!

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  20. Lisa, this is amazing, I'd love to try both (I have that flatbread bookmarked since I saw in on Susan's site)

    very unusual way to cook the eggplant, I bet I could do it in my less than ideal kitchen

    thanks....

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  21. We have a big dinner party next weekend and I'm thinking this sounds like the perfect appetizer. I've never cooked eggplant that way - in a dry pot. I wonder if it would bring even more flavor to the dish it I grilled the eggplant.

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  22. I've never heard of eggplant cooked this way before but it sounds absolutely amazing. The color of it is just gorgeous! I would probably just go at it with a spoon.

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  23. Mmm....that looks very delicious. Love the eggplant dish with the flatbread. Hope to make sometime. Thanks very much for sharing.

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  24. Love this method of cooking eggplant and I can't wait to try. Over the summer, I tried burning them on an open flame, as suggested by Yottam Ottolenghi, in his book, but it was a disaster. This sounds much more doable. The flatbreads with pieces of sundried tomato sound like the perfect match for this, too.

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  25. This sounds like an Indian Tawa naan with more flavors, and the eggplant you made here is so much like Baigan Bharta :-) perfect combination. I will try incorporating flavors this way when i make the tawa naan next time. we do garlic and onion, never thought of sun dried tomatoes.

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  26. I skipped the parsley and cilantro, since I didn't have it on hand, substituted chipotle chili powder for the smoked paprika, and sauteed the garlic in the oil before adding everything else to the pan. Then I added some of the tomato juices to the pan to make it a bit more liquidy, served it over brown rice, and it was delicious!!!!

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