Baked Eggplant

Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies and you can do so very much with them. This one is easy and delicious!!

What you will need: serves 4

10oz. small eggplants
¼ cup olive oil
basil pesto (try and make your own, so much better than store-bought, I promise)
a baking tray, lightly oiled

What to do:

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and put on the baking tray. Drizzle with a little of the olive oil and cook in a preheated oven at 375’F for about 20 minutes, then turn them over and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Please make the pesto! Here is how, it’s easy!

¼ cup pine nuts
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp sea salt
a large double handful of fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or to taste

Put the pine nuts in a dry skillet and sauté gently and quickly until golden (about 30 seconds). They burn very easily, so be careful. Let them cool. Transfer to a food processor or blender, add the garlic, sea salt, and basil, and blend to a paste. Add the Parmesan, blend again, then add the oil and blend again until smooth. Add extra olive oil if you want it to be looser.

When the eggplants are cooked, drizzle with the pesto and serve hot or cold.
* you should make a lot of the pesto and store it in refrigerator, you can always use the extra on a salad or on your spaghetti squash!!! Just keep it covered with a thin film of olive oil and it will stay fresh for weeks.

DELICIOUS! Enjoy

Bon Appetite