Italian Eggplant Ragout

Umberle's Note:

Pulled from an old issue of vegetarian times. I used to be pretty leary of eggplant, but this was enchanting. Good on its own; better with pasta or rice.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 medium eggplants, halved
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Scoop out center and seeds of eggplant halves. Cut eggplants into 3/4 inch dice. Toss with salt in bowl and let it stand for at least 20 minutes. Drain off the fluid that collects, rinse well, and pat dry.
2. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, and saute until softened (about 5 minutes.) Add garlic, and cook 1 minute more, or until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, and eggplants. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 15 minutes, or until eggplants are tender but not mushy.
3. Stir in capers and sugar, and cook 2 minutes more. Fold in parsley, and season with black pepper.

Reviews

[Halima Dances]

This was delicious. I served it over a bowl of polenta, and it was the ultimate comfort-food meal. I'll be making this again and often.

[Chef*Lee]

So delicious!!!!!! Ragouts are some of my favorite dishes, they have such depth of flavor and the veggies are usually the stars!!! I added a few things to enhance it even further for myself and for fun!!! First, I salted and removed the bitterness of the eggplant then roasted it using Roasted Eggplant for Pasta and Recipes , Roasted Eggplant for Pasta and Recipes,,that I really love the method and flavor of. This really sent the flavor of the eggplant into the stratosphere and lessened the time it needed to be in the skillet. I used fire-roasted tomatoes, threw in some chopped black olives and in place of parsley, I used arugula. This recipe is wonderful, it has great flavor, balance and you can tweak it with a few different veggies here and there that won't change the delicious outcome!!! Thanks so much for the recipe!!!

[Panebianco]

I was going to post this and here it is. This is wonderful. Only change I made was I added crushed red peppers to the onions which spiced it up. We had it over rigatoni. It's good on it's own, but I would add a small can of tomato sacue if using over pasta. This is a keeper!