Eggplant with Tomatoes and Dill - Cold Meze Appetizer

Name: Eggplant with Tomatoes and Dill - Cold Meze Appetizer
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 1 h
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: Eggplants 2; Ripe tomatoes 2; Garlic 1-2 cloves; Dill and basil 2-3 sprigs; Vegetable oil, salt, black pepper, sugar, wine vinegar to taste

Today I felt like making eggplant with tomatoes. Those who have been to the Middle East and the Balkans surely know how much importance local culinary traditions give to dishes served at the start of a meal, or as snacks to go with alcohol (unless, of course, local religious traditions forbid it).

The general name for these dishes is usually pronounced “meze”, with the stress on the second syllable, although there are variations. The origin of the term most likely goes back to ancient roots. In most Eastern languages it simply means a snack or appetizer. Today meze is most often a set of appetizers – many different small portions, served laid out on a large platter or on small plates. It is always very beautiful and very tasty. Strong spirits are served with it: raki in Turkey, mastika or rakia in Bulgaria, ouzo in Greece. Still, you can often find meze as food in its own right, without alcohol. Sometimes such appetizers even accompany large main dishes.

The makeup of these appetizers varies widely, depending on the region, traditions or season. Almost always a mixed spread includes cheeses: brynza, feta and others. In the Caucasus they serve Adjarian khachapuri. There are fresh and pickled vegetables, sliced smoked meat, herbs, various composed dishes: salads, chilled sautés (similar to our eggplant caviar), other eggplant appetizers, always fresh bread, and also assorted fruit.

Almost always the spread includes a variety of vegetable dishes. Of all the appetizers I tried in the Middle East, what I remember most are the different ways of preparing eggplant: fried or charcoal-roasted eggplants, sliced or mashed into a puree, dressed with oil, lemon juice and spices. The local name is baba ghanoush. Roasted eggplant puree is often used as a side for poultry. I remember a wonderful chicken dish in Turkey cooked with roasted eggplant puree.

Pan-fried eggplant with tomatoes is a fairly high-calorie dish. Eggplants soak up oil well when frying. Still, an appetizer to go with strong drinks should be filling.

With fried eggplant you can make many appetizers – tasty and nourishing. In the vegetable season you can always find plenty of simple and delicious dishes; this time I decided to make eggplant with tomatoes.

Let's make an appetizer of eggplant with tomatoes, garlic and herbs.

More with tomatoes and eggplant

Lecho with EggplantEasy lecho with eggplant, sweet peppers, onion and tomatoes. A Bulgarian-style eggplant stew for serving with bread or rice, or for canning. Step-by-step recipe.

Eggplant caviarEggplant caviar – a famous appetizer! The most common way to prepare vegetable caviar is to fry vegetables and grind them.

LyutenitsaHomemade Bulgarian lyutenitsa: roasted red peppers, tomatoes, chili, garlic and eggplant simmered into a thick, sweet and tangy sauce for meat, bread and cheese.

Vegetable PizzaHomemade vegetable pizza with fresh tomato sauce, fried eggplant, roasted peppers, pickled onion, mozzarella and Parmesan. Step-by-step recipe with photos.

Eggplant and Beef Stew – Bulgarian Priest’s YakhniyaBulgarian priest's yakhniya: beef stewed with fried eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and white wine. Step-by-step recipe, great for a cauldron or picnic.

Ingredients

2 servings

Eggplants 2
Ripe tomatoes 2
Garlic 1-2 cloves
Dill and basil 2-3 sprigs
Vegetable oil, salt, black pepper, sugar, wine vinegar to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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For tastier eggplant with tomatoes, you need young eggplants whose seeds haven't formed yet – small, cylindrical, with very dark, glossy skin. Wash and dry the eggplants and cut them into rounds 5-6 mm thick.
Many people think eggplants should be sprinkled with salt to draw out the bitterness. A long time ago, I remember eggplant varieties that were bitter. But today's eggplants are somehow different. I haven't come across a bitter one in many years. So whether to salt them or not is up to you. If you do decide to draw out the bitterness, just in case, rinse them thoroughly afterwards.
Heat a little vegetable oil in a frying pan and add the sliced eggplant rounds. After a minute, when the eggplant has soaked up the oil, turn the slices over and immediately add more oil. That way both sides absorb oil and the eggplant fries beautifully. In total I use about 80 ml of vegetable oil to fry two eggplants. Fry the eggplant rounds until golden and transfer to a plate.
The tomatoes should be large and very ripe. Scald them with boiling water and peel. Remove the seeds and the stem end. Cut the tomatoes into pieces and put them in a blender. Blend the tomatoes to a puree. If you like spicy appetizers, you can add a little hot pepper to the tomatoes – to taste.
Dill sprigs. Blend the basil leaves and peeled garlic in a blender.
Pour the tomato puree into a frying pan, add the chopped fresh herbs with the garlic. Add salt and pepper, and 1 tsp of sugar. If the tomatoes weren't ripe enough, you can add wine vinegar, but no more than 1 tsp – a few drops are enough.
Leave the pan on the heat and, stirring, cook the tomato sauce until it is as thick as sour cream.
In a ceramic or heatproof glass dish, layer the sauce, the eggplant, and more sauce. The top layer should be tomato sauce. The inner layers need not be covered with sauce, or not too thoroughly. What matters is that there is sauce at the bottom and on top. This determines how well our eggplant will stew.
Put the dish in an oven preheated to 200°C for 15 mins from the moment the sauce starts to boil. Since the sauce and eggplant are still warm, boiling will start fairly quickly – keep an eye on it.
Still, all the ingredients go in already cooked and ready to eat, so the dish won't be raw. As an option, if you're short on time, you can put the dish in the microwave for 10 mins at full power.
The eggplant should cool down and chill. Ideally, leave the tomatoes with eggplant in the fridge overnight. Still, hot eggplant is also tasty and goes great with new potatoes.

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Recipe facts

Yield:	2 servings
Calories:	44 kcal per 100 g
Prep:	30 mins
Cook:	30 mins
Total:	60 mins
Category:	Snacks and Sauces › Vegetable Appetizers
Cuisine:	Middle Eastern
Rating:	4.6 (7)