Summertime Eggplant Stew

Summertime Eggplant Stew

1 large eggplant
4 large tomatoes chopped (use only fresh tomatoes for this recipe)
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tbs olive oil
3 tbs capers, chopped
1/3 cup green olives, chopped
Handful of chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
S/P to taste

Peel, seed, dice and toss eggplant with salt. Place in colander and weigh down with dish and heavy cans to extract the bitter juices for 1 hour.
Rinse and pat dry. Put aside.

In a pot place 4 tbs olive oil.
Sauté chopped onion a few minutes.
Add garlic, eggplant and tomatoes.

Cover and simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust the heat if necessary to avoid burning.

Add olives and capers and continue cooking an additional 15 minutes.
Add handful of chopped fresh basil.
Use a spoon or potato masher to crush and blend the tomatoes and eggplant.

Continue simmering, uncovered, for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in cheese.

This looks so good. To serve would you put it over pasta or rice or just eat it as it. Looks easy and with wonderful flavors. Yum!

I would just eat it with some crusty bread but I guess you could serve it with rice I dont know about noodles.

I tried this out last night and it was delicious! We served it with crusty bread, as per the author's suggestion. Fabulous! Very flavorful and not a heavy meal. And, since it cooks on the stove, it's great for hot weather!

Just leave the cheese off for a vegan version ... perhaps add nutritional yeast instead.

We loved it!