Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 4 large eggplants (approx. 1 kilo/2 lbs)
- 1 large red bell pepper
- 1 green onion, finely sliced
- small handful fresh parsley, minced
- 1 medium clove garlic
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + more for garnish
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 50g crumbled feta (1/3 cup)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pierce the eggplants all over with a fork.
- Set your grill or gas burner to medium high heat and cook the eggplants and pepper over the flames, rotating often to achieve an even char.
- The bell pepper will take about 10 minutes to be evenly charred. Once done, place pepper in a bowl and cover tightly so that the pepper will steam in the bowl.
- Continue to cook the eggplants for about another 10 minutes until the skin is thoroughly charred and the flesh is very tender (if a fork pushes into the flesh with no resistance, the eggplants are done). Set the eggplants aside to cool.
- Remove the pepper from the bowl and use a knife to scrape the skin off of the pepper.
- Cut out the stem and scrape the seeds from the inside of the pepper. Finely chop the pepper and set aside.
- Slice the eggplants in half lengthwise and use a spoon to carefully scoop the flesh away from the skin. Once you have removed all of the eggplant flesh from the skin, discard the skin, roughly chop the eggplant and reserve it in a bowl.
- Chop the clove of garlic, add it to a mortar bowl along with a large pinch of salt. Pound and grind the garlic with a pestle until it is perfectly smooth. Add olive oil and vinegar to the garlic and mix well with the pestle.
- Add the garlic paste to the chopped smoked eggplant, mixing well to combine.
- Add the sliced green onion and minced parsley to the bowl, reserving just a bit of each for garnish.
- Season with salt and pepper and then add the diced red bell pepper to the bowl and mix well to combine.
- Finish the melitzanosalata off with a generous drizzle of olive oil, crumbled feta and garnish with fresh herbs.
- Serve with warm pita bread.
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours