For some veggies, we use the phrase roasting as a general term for cooking a vegetable whole to get after the tender flesh, like peppers, tomatoes, and eggplant. For eggplant, we scoop the velvety cooked flesh from the skin of the eggplant. This can be done in the oven (actual roasting!), on a grill, or even over the open flame of a stovetop burner.
The goal of roasting eggplant is to cook the interior of the eggplant until it is soft and silky. From there, it can be used as the base of a dish or as an all-purpose, nutrient-rich filler and add-in, like:
- Blended into baba ganoush or another dip
- Stirred into a simple tomato sauce for a nutrient-rich pasta sauce
- Spread on a flatbread for a rich layer of vegan flavor
- Mixed into turkey burgers for added moisture
To roast eggplant in the oven, slice one or more eggplants in half lengthwise. Drizzle the cut side with vegetable oil and season with salt and pepper. Place face-down on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and roast at 400°F until the skin is beginning to brown and wrinkle and a knife inserted into the eggplant meets no resistance, about 30 minutes.
To “roast” an eggplant on the grill or over a flame, keep the eggplant whole. Place it on a grill rack or hold it over the flame using tongs, turning it occasionally as the skin begins to darken and lightly char. You will know the eggplant is done when it feels soft to the touch and the skin is fully browned.
Once your eggplant is cooked, you can use a spoon to scrape the soft flesh away from the skin. If the eggplant was whole, wait for it to cool before using kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut the skin open. Discard the skins, as they’ll be bitter from cooking.
Roasted eggplant flesh may not be beautiful, but it is caramelized and delicious, soft and silky, and ready to use or freeze for later.
