Fairy Tale Eggplant

Last week we got a pint of Fairy Tale Eggplants in our CCSA share.  If you've never seen them before, they are basically eggplants about the length of your pinky finger.  We got some last year, and I tried a recipe online but I didn't understand the excitement others were feeling. This year I decided to try something simpler.

First, you have to know, my husband HATES eggplant.  It is one of the food carryovers from his childhood that makes him gag.  While I, on the other hand, really love a well prepared eggplant.  One of my favorite dishes on earth is eggplant parmesan.  I order it at every new Italian restaurant we try.  When it is done well I believe it is close to heaven, but more often than not, it is just mushy with cheese and sauce.  With that in mind I knew I didn't want mushy.

Luckily our Fair Shares (my CCSA) newsletter mentioned roasting eggplants a few weeks ago.  While she wasn't discussing the fairy tale eggplant, I decided I should try her approach -- roasting.

I cut off the ends, and split the tiny eggplants in half.  Laid them on a baking pan, drizzled olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and pressed a generous amount of garlic over each piece.  I baked them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then added shredded buffalo mozzarella over each piece and baked an additional 5 minutes.

The result was a hit it our household.  My eggplant hating husband said they looked like roasted cocoons, which I guess helped him get past the childhood memories.  He had quite a few and said he would have them again.  The girls said they reminded them of roasted potatoes.  I think that is about as high of praise as you can get from my girls.

(One final note: The younger one didn't like seeing the seeds so if I made them again I think I would cover the seeds better with the cheese. )