Baked eggplant pesto is the dressing for first courses or bruschetta that I love to prepare the most in the warm season.
In summer, in fact, we all want to eat foods that are quick to make and that satisfy the palate without weighing us down.
So if you have some baked eggplant that you haven’t consumed, just place it in the mixer with the other ingredients indicated in my recipe and in a few minutes, you will have a delicious pesto to dress the pasta or, as mentioned, even slices of toasted bread.
Eggplant has a sweet and delicate flavor, which pairs well with fresher notes such as those of basil, parsley, and chili pepper.
To give the pesto body, I add almonds, which I prefer to toast lightly, thus releasing their aroma even more.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 283.23 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 11.72 (g) of which sugars 6.30 (g)
- Proteins 6.27 (g)
- Fat 25.51 (g) of which saturated 4.66 (g)of which unsaturated 4.56 (g)
- Fibers 6.09 (g)
- Sodium 191.56 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 96 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1.1 lbs eggplants
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup Grana Padano DOP
- 3 leaves basil (large)
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 to taste fresh chili pepper (or dried)
Tools
- Blender / Mixer
Preparation
Bake the whole eggplants or cut in half at 428°F, on baking paper, in the central part of the static preheated oven, for about 50 minutes.
Prick them with a fork and turn them from time to time.
Continue cooking until the fork easily penetrates to the center of the eggplant.
Let them cool, then remove the skin and stem, and place them on a colander to drain part of the liquid they contain.
Toast the peeled almonds in a small pan.
If we have almonds with skin, simply immerse them for a few minutes in boiling water off the heat and the skin will come off easily.
Then proceed toasting the almonds as mentioned.
In a mixer combine the eggplant pulp, almonds, Grana Padano, salt, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, a small piece of chili pepper, basil, and parsley.
Blend until you obtain a homogeneous mixture with almond flakes inside.
The baked eggplant pesto is now ready.
If you want to use it to dress pasta, store it in a jar covered with plastic wrap until use.
Cook the pasta, leaving the penne rigate (or other pasta of choice) al dente, and toss with the eggplant pesto.
Serve sprinkled with coarsely chopped almonds and Grana, or with a bit of chopped parsley.
Storage
The pesto can be stored in the fridge, covered with a thin layer of oil, in an airtight container for 1, at most 2 days.
The pesto can be stored in the fridge, covered with a thin layer of oil, in an airtight container for 1, at most 2 days.
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