Roasted Eggplant with Sweet and Smokey Chermoula

in Appetizers, Entree
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I own a lot of cookbooks specific to middle eastern and north African cooking. And inside almost every one of these cookbooks is contained a recipe for a roasted eggplant dish. They’re all pretty similar and they are all delicious. I’m biased to these recipes because I absolutely love eggplant. The only person I know who might like eggplant more than I do is my wife, so when making eggplant, I know we’re both going to be happy. My version of this common eggplant dish is similar. Where it differs is that I think this one can be eaten for any meal, and no joke, could even throwdown as dessert.

Appetizer or Dessert? This Smokey and Sweet Eggplant is an anytime dish!

The smokiness of a roasted eggplant is a thing of beauty. I don’t think there’s another vegetable that transforms itself as much upon being cooked as much as an eggplant does. What you see before the cooking is nothing like what you get after. This recipe allows for the smokiness of the vegetable to shine, added with the smokiness of the paprika in the chermoula, paired with the sweetness of the date molasses and the goat cheese, and the nuttiness and texture from the pistachios, in combination truly make this dish taste like perfection.

PS – Don’t drink all the chermoula before you use it. Also, I’m kinda thinking it could work as an ice cream topping?

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Roasted Eggplant with Sweet & Smokey Chermoula, Goat Cheese and Pistachios

An easy to make appetizer, main course, or even dessert. This eggplant is covered in a drinkable chermoula with melted goat cheese and pistachios.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Servings 4 halves

Ingredients
  

  • 2 medium sized eggplants cut in half lengthwise
  • 1 cup crumbled goat cheese
  • 1/2 cup pistachios chopped finely

For the Chermoula

  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup date molasses
  • 3 garlic cloves peeled and pressed through a garlic press, or finely chopped
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
  • 3 tbsp paprika
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • Mix together all of the ingredients for the chermoula.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Cut the eggplant in half, lengthwise, leaving on the top green part. Make cross-cut diagonal slices into the flesh of the eggplant so that the chermoula can seep into the eggplant while it cooks.
    Lay the eggplant halves, flesh side up, in a baking dish, and scoop a couple tablespoons of chermoula on top, spreading it around the flesh of the eggplant and allowing it to seep into the slices that you previously made.
    Place the eggplants in the oven for 35 minutes and allow them to roast.
  • After the 35 minutes, carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven. Top each piece of eggplant with a generous amount of crumbled goat cheese and a few pinches of chopped pistachios. Place the eggplant back in the oven for an additional 5-10 minutes until the goal cheese has slightly melted.
    Remove the eggplant. Plate, and drizzle with any remaining chermoula that you desire and a little chopped parsley or other herb for garnish.
Keyword eggplant, vegetables, vegetarian
 

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