Brazil: Berinjela ao Forno - Roasted Eggplant
I reached out to my partner's sort-of uncle for this recipe. I say sort-of because they're not related but JL has been a friend to Nick's mum since before Nick was born, so he's basically his uncle. JL is originally from Brazil, and is a character and a half. He's lovely, and I think he'd actually really get on with my dad.
Anyway, JL asked his son who then translated this recipe from Brazilian Portuguese to English for me. I'm not sure where the recipe comes from originally, but I'm grateful because it's clearly a family dish that I've been gifted.
This was absolutely easy peasy to make. Dice the eggplant, chop the bell peppers, slice onions, and throw the whole lot into the oven. Roast for half an hour, then toss with raisins, olives and parsley. The recipe also included walnuts, which I have excluded, but could easily be added in if you don't have a nut allergy!
I did have to peel the eggplant, which was a first for me. I've never seen a peeled eggplant and I'm not sure I should see one again - it was like peeling a lemon. It's just not done. I'm not sure what impact it made by peeling it either, but as I haven't tried this dish with the eggplant skin still on, I have nothing to compare it to.
This recipe makes HEAPS of food. Nick and I shared a bowl of it between us alongside our moqueca, but we have at least 2 or 3 servings left. I'm not a huge fan of eggplant, and have only started to eat in the last 12 months or so, so I was a bit cautious about this dish. But it was surprisingly tasty. I love olives and raisins which I threw in with gusto, and everything is great when you add parsley, and because the eggplant is roasted with the peppers and onions in vinegar, they all blend flavours together. For me though, it's the texture of eggplant that trips me up. It's just a bit squishy. Not such the case in this dish, where the eggplant was firm.
To be honest, this wasn't my favourite dish. Next to the moqueca it was basically non-existent as the flavours are quite subtle whereas the moqueca punches you in the face with it's taste. But I think berinjela ao forno would be a lovely side dish to serve at a barbecue or something like that. It's not bad dish, it just didn't match so well with the rest of my Brazilian meal.
One thing to note is that there is no right or wrong vegetable to put in here. You can add zucchini, butternut squash, pumpkin... Any sorts of squash are totally fine. Additionally, you can add or remove the remaining ingredients as you like - you can remove the spring onions, add more parsley, take away the olives, etc etc etc. There's no right or wrong. The below is how I made it.
Berinjela ao Forno - Roasted Eggplant
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
Anyway, JL asked his son who then translated this recipe from Brazilian Portuguese to English for me. I'm not sure where the recipe comes from originally, but I'm grateful because it's clearly a family dish that I've been gifted.
This was absolutely easy peasy to make. Dice the eggplant, chop the bell peppers, slice onions, and throw the whole lot into the oven. Roast for half an hour, then toss with raisins, olives and parsley. The recipe also included walnuts, which I have excluded, but could easily be added in if you don't have a nut allergy!
I did have to peel the eggplant, which was a first for me. I've never seen a peeled eggplant and I'm not sure I should see one again - it was like peeling a lemon. It's just not done. I'm not sure what impact it made by peeling it either, but as I haven't tried this dish with the eggplant skin still on, I have nothing to compare it to.
This recipe makes HEAPS of food. Nick and I shared a bowl of it between us alongside our moqueca, but we have at least 2 or 3 servings left. I'm not a huge fan of eggplant, and have only started to eat in the last 12 months or so, so I was a bit cautious about this dish. But it was surprisingly tasty. I love olives and raisins which I threw in with gusto, and everything is great when you add parsley, and because the eggplant is roasted with the peppers and onions in vinegar, they all blend flavours together. For me though, it's the texture of eggplant that trips me up. It's just a bit squishy. Not such the case in this dish, where the eggplant was firm.
To be honest, this wasn't my favourite dish. Next to the moqueca it was basically non-existent as the flavours are quite subtle whereas the moqueca punches you in the face with it's taste. But I think berinjela ao forno would be a lovely side dish to serve at a barbecue or something like that. It's not bad dish, it just didn't match so well with the rest of my Brazilian meal.
One thing to note is that there is no right or wrong vegetable to put in here. You can add zucchini, butternut squash, pumpkin... Any sorts of squash are totally fine. Additionally, you can add or remove the remaining ingredients as you like - you can remove the spring onions, add more parsley, take away the olives, etc etc etc. There's no right or wrong. The below is how I made it.
Berinjela ao Forno - Roasted Eggplant
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant
- 1 large red bell pepper (capsicum)
- 1/2 red onion
- 1/2 cup green olives
- 1/2 cup raisins
- Bunch of parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup spring onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- Hot red pepper (optional)
- 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C.
- Peel eggplant and chop into medium to small cubes. Chop the red pepper (capsicum) and onion. Place all the vegetables into a baking dish and add vinegar and water.
- Cover dish with tin foil and bake for approximately 20-30 minutes. Once vegetables are soft, remove from the oven and add the remaining ingredients.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.
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