THANKS, MOM, FOR THE GREAT BASICS FOR EGGPLANT SPREAD!
This year we moved our mother into an beautiful assisted living facility, and I inherited her recipe boxes as I have a greater love of cooking than my sister. Yes, Connie, I said it, yet you and I know you are a dynamite cook! Although now that I think about it, I could have inherited them because it was just one more box of my mother’s things that we had to store in our garages and my sister said, “You take them!” (LOL.)
But am I glad I have my Mom’s recipes in her handwriting on index cards, folded papers and post it notes. Many of which I remember, and it brought so much sentiment and joy seeing them, until I couldn’t read her writing in some cases, and I was struggling to make out the ingredients in the recipes! (UGH.)
One of these recipes is an “Eggplant Spread” which was written on a small orange post it, with no amounts and just some ingredients. I must say, this one I didn’t remember, but I really wanted to make it! So with some trials of amounts and ingredients, I think I found the right mix and I hope you’ll agree!
MOVE OVER OLIVES….EGGPLANT TAPENADE IS HERE!
Eggplant is one of those vegetables that we always associate with parmesan that you select on the menu at an Italian restaurant! We had it growing up and my father was so skilled at lightly breading and frying it and if it was not piled up in an Eggplant Parmesan dish, it was served on the side just by itself! And we devoured it! It was thin and crispy, and we’d dip in tomato sauce or ketchup (don’t judge)! But eggplant is delicious just by itself, and especially grilled or roasted! And when you add in some other veggies (like bell peppers), garlic, oil, some herbs and spices, and blend that up into a tapenade-like spread and serve on a toasted, crunchy baguette, it’s heaven! Even my husband will eat it and he really doesn’t care for eggplant!
THIS EGGPLANT TAPENADE MAKES A GREAT APPETIZER!
Whether having a small dinner party or a large get-together, this Eggplant Tapenade makes a great appetizer that everyone will love! Especially when many of us try and reduce the amount of meat we eat. I love drizzling a little olive oil on baguette slices and toasting them in the oven, then spreading the Eggplant Tapenade on top and garnished with some grated Italian cheese! Yum! And no worries if you don’t have the exact type of veggies the recipe calls for! Substitute what you have, if it’s zucchini, yellow squash, or even broccoli or cauliflower! You can’t go wrong!
Until next time,
Let’s get cookin’ together,
Madeline
Eggplant Tapenade Spread
Equipment
- 1 9"x 13" aluminum pan
- 1 Food Processor or Blender
- 1 Cookie sheet
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant (about 1-1/2 pounds)
- ½ each red, yellow, green and orange bell peppers
- ½ cup red onion (about 1/4 of a mid-size red onion)
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, (½ pint)
- 1 tbsp Kirkland No-Salt Organic Seasoning You can substitute1/2 tsp minced onion, 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tbsp dried Italian Herb Blend
- 2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil I use Capella's Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 loaf French baguette, sliced in half inch slices
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400° convection roast or bake for a traditional oven.
- Roughly cut up the vegetables and place in the pan.
- Toss in oil and seasonings to the vegetables.
- Roast for 30 minutes, stirring them halfway through.
- Remove vegetables from oven, leaving oven on.
- Place vegetables in the food processor/blender on high until vegetables are finely minced together.
- Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place baguette slices on the parchment paper.
- Toast them on 400° for 3-5 minutes, watching to make sure they don’t burn.
- Spread a tbsp of vegetables on each baguette, and garnish with Pecorino Romano cheese and parsley.
Notes
