Cuban Eggplant is boiled and then laced with sauteed onions, peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and cumin.
Seems that every culture (maybe except American — we’ve just adopted everyone else’s) has a load of great eggplant dishes, many of them combining eggplant with tomatoes. Here’s our Cuban Eggplant Stew to add to the list.
Eggplant recipes often require frying the eggplant in oil before combining it with the other ingredients. It works just fine. The spongy eggplant with soak up tons of oil making it silky and delicious. The problem with frying is that I keep losing track of just how much oil I keeping having to add to the skillet. And those little sponges soak up a lot!
This time, as we’ve done before with great results in the Light Eggplant Parm and the Smoky Eggplant Dip, the eggplant is boiled in salted water for 10 to 15 minutes until softened. The texture will be soft and appealing, but not as waterlogged and mushy as you might think. You still cook the onions and peppers in a controlled amount of olive oil. If you want more oil, stir in some fruity olive oil just before serving. This way you’ll know exactly how much oil you’re using.
Chopped ripe summer tomatoes are the best, but a can of diced is perfectly acceptable. Cuban Eggplant contains no meat, but it takes to it well. Add cooked ham or cooked ground beef or turkey. I like to finish off the dish with whatever fresh herbs are in the garden–chives, oregano, cilantro, basil, or marjoram.
Can’t get enough eggplant? You’ve got to try these:
