Eggplant Spread Chunky

Name: Eggplant Spread Chunky
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Cuisine: International
Ingredients: 5 tablespoons Vegetable Oil; 3 Eggplants; 2 Bell Peppers; 1 Onion, chopped; 5 Garlic cloves; 2 Celery stalks, chopped; 2 Carrots, chopped; 2 cans Diced Tomatoes; 3 Sundried Tomatoes, diced; 1 tsp Salt, to taste; 1/4 tsp Black Pepper, to taste

If you like ratatouille, you'll enjoy this dish as well. You can serve it warm, right after it’s been cooked, but even better the next day when the flavors melt together. Eggplant Spread Chunky is great as an appetizer with some fresh crusty bread link to Buckwheat Millet Oat Bread, a side dish or part of a main meal.

GF LC SF DF YF EF VG NF

Ingredients:

Name	Metric	US
Vegetable Oil	5 tablespoons
Eggplants	3
Bell Peppers ["Also, you can use 4-5 mini peppers"]	2
Onion, chopped	1
Garlic cloves	5
Celery stalks, chopped	2
Carrots, chopped	2
Diced Tomatoes	2 cans
Sundried Tomatoes, diced	3
Salt, to taste	1 tsp
Black Pepper, to taste	1/4 tsp

Optional Ingredients

Oregano, to taste
1 red Jalapeno, sliced, to taste
Crushed Red Pepper flakes
Smoked Paprika, to taste
Handful of herbs: parsley, cilantro, basil

Steps:

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400 °F/ 200°C. Wash the eggplants (3) and the bell peppers (2). Dry them. Pierce the eggplant skin in several places. Roast the eggplant and peppers on a baking sheet until soft, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let cool.

Step 2

Heat the vegetable oil (5 tbsp) in a wide, heavy-based pan and saute the onion (1) for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Step 3

Add garlic (5 cloves), carrots (2) and continue cooking for about 5 more minutes.

Step 4

Next, add the celery (2), diced tomatoes (2 cans), sun-dried tomatoes (3) and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are broken down into a sauce, 8 to 10 minutes.

Step 5

Next, you will need to seed and peel the roasted peppers, dice them and add them to the pan, stir everything one more time and cook over low heat.

Step 6

Slice eggplants open, and scoop out flesh and let it rest in a bowl for 5 minutes and drain the liquid.

Step 7

Add the eggplant to the pan, season with salt, crushed black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes; bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to low, and simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Or cook the vegetables down a bit longer to the point where the vegetables break up and sort of combine everything together.

Step 8

Taste and adjust seasoning; sprinkle basil leaves, parsley or cilantro (if using).

Notes:

Eggplant Spread Chunky

This recipe yields a decent amount of spread. With a little imagination, there are endless ways to use Eggplant Spread Chunky such as:
* Vegetarian main course over grains or polenta.
* Base for roasted or grilled meats or fish.
* Tossed with pasta.
* Straight from the fridge as a snack. It’s good at room temperature, cold, or warmed up.