A play on textures, flavors, and techniques to highlight the quintessential summer vegetable: eggplant. In this recipe, we find it baked, steamed, fried, and in a sauce. An elegant dish designed to impress.
Ingredients for 4 people
- 6 round eggplants
- 1 large striped eggplant
- 1 fresh burrata cheese
- 200 ml Merlot red wine
- 100 g fig leaves (fresh)
- 500 g whole milk
- 1 shallot
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 2 cloves garlic
- Peanut oil, for frying
- Extra-virgin olive oil, to taste
- Soy sauce, to taste
- Lemon juice, a few drops
- Salt, to taste
- A knob of butter
Procedure
For the baked eggplant
Wash 4 round eggplants and bake them whole in a static oven at 180°C for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, place in a container and cover with plastic wrap until completely cooled. Once cool, place them in a colander with a weight on top and leave to drain for at least 1 hour.
Keep the liquid: season it with 10 g of soy sauce and a few drops of lemon juice. Set aside.
For the steamed eggplant
Peel the striped eggplant and steam it whole for 90 minutes. Once cooked, keep it warm.
For the fried eggplant (scapece)
Peel the 2 remaining round eggplants and place them under coarse salt for about 2 hours to remove the water. Rinse, dry and cut into matchsticks. Fry in plenty of peanut oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and season with parsley, mint, chopped garlic and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
For the eggplant peel sauce
In a pan, sauté the chopped shallot with a little extra-virgin olive oil. Add the eggplant peels, previously washed and dried. Toast briefly, then deglaze with the Merlot. Continue cooking until the wine is well absorbed. Blend everything until you obtain a smooth sauce and season with salt.
For the milk and fig curd
Blend the fig leaves with the milk. Bring to a boil, then strain the mixture. Blend again to obtain a smooth, fragrant sauce.
For the burrata sauce
Blend the burrata with a dash of milk and a pinch of salt until you obtain a smooth, velvety cream.
Plating
Start by pouring a spoonful of soy eggplant liquid on the bottom of the plate.
Cut the striped eggplant into four pieces and brown them in a pan with a knob of butter until lightly golden.
Arrange some of the scapece eggplant next to them. Then place the warm eggplant pieces on top.
Complete the dish by drizzling with the three sauces: burrata, fig curd and eggplant peel sauce.
Contact
Ada Gourmet
Via del Bovaro 2, 06121 Perugia, Italy
Phone: +39 3493130982
