Italian Marinated Eggplant

Easy Italian marinated eggplant – grilled eggplant/aubergine marinated in garlic, oregano, chili and mint. solid as a side, with salad or as an antipasto with drinks.

The thing about this marinated eggplant is that it can be eaten straight away and it tastes fantastic or it can be left for 6 hours to overnight for the eggplant to absorb all the good flavours and become extra good.

We love that it can be eaten straight away and added to a salad with mozzarella, so suited to a summer lunchor picnic. When it's left a little longer, the eggplant becomes softer and packed full of flavour making it suited to sandwiches or crostini.

How to make Italian marinated eggplant

This is such a simple recipe and it packs a punch of flavour. We used garlic, oregano, chili, and mint for the marinade. These are all simple flavours that you're sure to get in any supermarket and they make this eggplant so so so good.

To start, cut two large eggplant (aubergine) into slices, sprinkle them with a little salt and set them aside for 30 minutes. Rinse the eggplant and pat them dry, brush them lightly with oil then add to a griddle pan to grill on each side until soft. You can also do this with a normal frying pan if you prefer.

To make the marinade, finely chop the chili, garlic and mint and add to a bowl with olive oil. Add the oregano and 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, stir and set aside until the eggplant has cooled slightly.

The assembly

Add a layer of eggplant slices on a serving plate then drizzle over around 1 tablespoon of the marinade. Continue for another few layers until the aubergine and marinade is used up. If there is extra marinade, pour it over the top of the final layer.

You can serve this straight away or leave for 6 hours to overnight in a cool place to soak up all the flavours. Serve with salad, grilled meats or as an antipasto.

One of our favourite ways to eat this is on top of crostini with provolone cheese, heat it under the grill for a couple second for it to warm up slightly and until the cheese has started to melt….love!

For More Antipasto Ideas Try:

• Italian stuffed peppers with tomatoes and anchovies
• Fried zucchini pizza bites
• Whipped ricotta toast with balsamic cherries
• Rosemary focaccia with mozzarella

Ingredients

Makes 6 people

• 2 large eggplant/aubergine
• 1/2 red chili
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 small bunch fresh mint
• 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 4.5 tbsp (80ml) olive oil plus extra for frying
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• salt

Method

1. Slice the eggplant around 1/4 inch thickness, sprinkle with a little salt (only enough to season don't over do it) and set aside for 30 minutes until they have released some water. Rinse the eggplant slices and pat dry with a paper towel.

2. Lightly brush the eggplant on each side with olive oil. Place on a hot griddle pan until soft (you can do this using a normal frying pan too) set aside to cool slightly.

3. To make the marinade, finely chop the garlic, mint and chili (seeds removed) add to 80ml of olive oil with the red wine vinegar and oregano, stir.

4. When the eggplant has cooled add a layer of the eggplant slices on a serving plate or bowl. Drizzle over 1 tbsp of the marinade then continue until all the slice and marinade has been used up. If there is extra marinade left, pour it over the final layer.

5. Eat straight away with salad, or as an antipasto. Alternativley leave to marinade for 6 hours to overnight for the eggplant to soak up the flavours even more.

Kitchen notes

Please note this recipe was tested and developed using metric measurements all imperial measurements are approximate