How do you properly prepare and cook aubergines?

Question

i have heard you half them,rub salt in and leave over-night?
is that the right way?

does it differ depending on what you want to do with it?

i am making a tomato/herb sauce topped with cheese to go on its top.

this is noy a pasta sauce,i am going to half the aubergines and put the sauce on top,then the cheese.and bake them after

Answer 1

Hello~ aubergines are more commonly known as eggplants. We grow these in our garden and love them! It is good to slice them and soak them in water and then sprinkle salt liberally all over them. This will cause them to actually "weep" out any bitter juices and flavours. I usually do this for 8 hours or so. Then you can rinse them and proceed with your recipe. I think they are delicious when sliced extremely thin then stacked with basil leaves, mozerella and tomato and then baked in a greased casserole with a marinara sauce on top (then add more cheese of course!) I think I will have to cook these this week ! best wishes and good luck with your recipe! s.ellis

Answer 2

Preparing Aubergine

Answer 3

Ingredients:

Two mediums sized onions.
Two large cloves of garlic.
Two to three medium sized aubergine (depending on how big a medium they are)
250g cup mushrooms
One can of chopped tomatoes
Sunflower oil
Salt to taste, but quite a lot.
Two or three table tablespoons of dhana-jeera (powdered coriander and cumin)
Half a tsp of crushed red chili
Half a tsp of turmeric

Cooking:

First we need to roast the aubergine. Chop off the green at the end, pierce the aubergine in various places with a fork, cover them in oil and stick them in the oven at roasting temperatures for 20-30 minutes. You’ll know they’re cooked when they feel completely soft through – poke them with a sharp knife. If they feel at all hard or dry inside then they’re not done yet.

While those are roasting, do the usual with the onions. Chop them up finely and fry them in oil. Also add the garlic (crushed or chopped as you prefer). Add the salt at the beginning. After a few minutes, add all the spices except the turmeric and keep cooking.

Meanwhile, clean the mushrooms and cut them fairly coarsely (I generally quarter them). When the onion has begun to get soft but isn’t yet cooked, add them and continue frying. Now, mushrooms are another thing which simply will not cook correctly in liquid, so continue frying until the mushrooms are acceptably cooked.

Once the aubergine is roasted, shred it. This is easier than it sounds – it will basically come apart in your hands if you’re willing to brave the high temperatures, or alternatively you can use a knife and fork. Separate the flesh from the skin, and it will come out in thick strands. Cut these up a little further. You can either get rid of the skin or cut it up and use that too as you please – I do the latter, I think Neelofer did the former. It’s a bit tough, but I really like the taste.

This done, add it to the frying onions and mushrooms. Fry them all together for a few minutes longer, then add the canned tomatoes, the turmeric and enough boiling water to make it up to a thick sauce. Leave this to simmer for another 5-10 minutes and then serve. I generally find it goes well with a bread of some sort – usually pita, mainly because I’m lazy and it’s easy to find.

Answer 4

I love aubergine. It can be added to roasted vegetables, curries, moussaka and vegetable lasagna. There's quite a nice side dish which I eat like tapas (with patatas bravas/garlic prawns/feta salad). Slice the aubergine into rounds about half an inch thick. Then place on a well oiled baking tray in one layer. Make a paste using tomato puree, dried herbs, crushed garlic, salt, black pepper, a bit of olive oil and a pinch of sugar. Mix together and spread evenly over the aubergine slices. Bake in an oven about 200'C for 20-25 mins. Check them occasionally to make sure they're not sticking to the bottom. This is a gorgeous way to eat aubergine.

Answer 5

INGREDIENTS
Serves 4

1/4 kg chopped onions
1/2 kg fresh tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
1 kg round aubergines
salt
pepper
olive oil


METHOD
Sautee the onions in a frying pan. Clean, chop and mash the fresh tomatoes (use 2 cans of preserved chopped tomatoes instead). Mash the garlic cloves in a mortar. Mix the tomatoe mash with the garlic. Wash the aubergines. Slice them horizontally in slices of 1 1/2 cm width. Butter an orthogonal pan and place the aubergine slices. Boil the tomatoe mash with the onions for a while. Then, pour the tomatoe mixture into the aubergine slices. Preheat the oven in 200 degrees C and bake for 45 minutes.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How do you properly prepare and cook aubergines?
i have heard you half them,rub salt in and leave over-night?
is that the right way?

does it differ depending on what you want to do with it?

i am making a tomato/herb sauce topped with cheese to go on its top.

Answer 7

you usually rub salt and soak it in water for about half an hour so that the aubergine's bitterness comes out. You cut it according to your recipe, but the more surface is salted the better.
Before adding your sauce you can also let it briefly boil in water and vinegar.
You can find wonderful recipes with aubergine on the internet.
It is supposed to be good to control blood preassure.

Answer 8

Peel and slice them.. Sprinkle with salt and leave for about 20 mins. Swill off the salt and the juice that has gathered as that is the bitter taste they can get. Then go ahead and cook as you wish. I always use the same method whatever I am cooking from frying, grilling or layering with a sauce.

Answer 9

When you see in recipes that you have to salt the aubergine then rinse the juices off etc... - you DON'T have to do all that nowadays. Aubergines aren't bitter any more - I haven't done all that in years, and my aubergines are delicious! :P

Answer 10

I love Aubergines in a spag bol DELICIOUS, also do as a big roast veg platter (only a drizzle of olive oil) heaven.