Assaggiare Mendocino’s Eggplant Salad
Assaggiare Mendocino’s Eggplant Salad
Recipe and photo submitted by Julia Kendrick Conway
Once again, a fellow foodie read my mind. I was saying how much I loved eggplant to a friend and suddenly… a reference to this eggplant salad pops up on Facebook! It looked so wonderful, I just had to get the recipe!
The wine country of California offers a bounty of wonderful people who are passionate about food and wine. Julia Kendrick Conway of Assaggiare Mendocino is no exception. Her love of food and the art of cooking guided her to the Mendocino area where she started her own business. Assaggiare provides unique catering services and cooking classes.
Nothing makes Julia happier than sharing her craft with others. She believes in using nothing but the highest quality local ingredients from neighboring farmer’s markets.
If you are visiting the Mendocino area, please consider Julia for catering needs or attend a class in her teaching kitchen. For more information please visit www.assaggiare.com. Thank you Julia!
Ingredients:
- 3 small sweet peppers, Gypsy or Lipstick are recommended
- 1/2 pint home canned tomato conserva
- sea salt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed and finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp dried aleppo pepper bits
- 1/4 tsp ground dried chipotle or spanish smoked pimenton (less spicy)
- 1/4 cup robust olive oil
- 4 fresh Italian or Asian eggplant, cut into 1” cubes with skin on
- 1/4 tsp LaMar’s Mendocino Seasoning Sand*
Cut peppers in to quarters, removing ribs and seeds, char, skin side down on the grill until skin blisters. Cool, peel and chop coarsely. Heat tomato in a saucepan (or substitute 1 whole tomato, peeled and seeded plus 3 tablespoons doppio tomato paste and thin with water) and add garlic, aleppo pepper and chipotle. Simmer about five minutes to develop and meld the flavors, taste and season with sea salt as needed or balance the sweetness of the tomato.
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a deep saucepan with a heavy bottom. Add eggplant, and stir to coat with oil. Cook until tender, 15 minutes +/-, stirring to prevent sticking. Add pepper pieces to tomato mixture and set aside. When eggplant is cooked through and translucent, add the tomato mixture and reduce temperature to low, simmering for 5 minutes. Season with LaMar’s Mendocino Seasoning Sand and serve warm or at room temperature with pan-toasted flatbread or flour tortillas.
The LaMar’s is a fabulous new product from our farmers’ market in Mendocino that is made from their locally harvested sea salt, garlic, onion, black pepper and brown sugar. Ask for it at your local retailers or order online here
