Grilled Baby Eggplants with Fresh Ricotta and Farm Stand Tomatoes

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 30 min
  • Active: 30 min
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Ingredients

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 garlic clove, smashed 

2 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves removed and roughly chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves 

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

1 cup fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese 

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 

4 baby eggplants, halved 

1/4 cup canola oil 

Directions

  1. Combine the tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and parsley in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the eggplant or for up to 2 hours.
  2. Combine the ricotta and lemon zest in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the eggplant or for up to 2 hours. 
  3. Heat a grill to high or a grill pan over high heat. 
  4. Brush the eggplant on both sides with the canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the eggplant, cut-side down, until golden brown and caramelized, about 4 minutes. Flip the eggplant and grill until the bottom is golden brown and the eggplant is tender, about 3 minutes more. 
  5. Transfer the eggplant to a platter, cut-side up, and top each half with a large dollop of the ricotta. Spoon the tomatoes over the top and serve. 

Cook’s Note

In the summer, you can substitute 3 ripe large beefsteak tomatoes, halved, seeded, and diced and 12 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced for the cherry tomatoes and oregano.

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Don F.

The steps Bobby did in the video class were not accurately represented if you just read the recipe. He roughly chopped the garlic along with kosher salt instead of just smashing it as the recipe stated. Also he never brushed the skin side of the eggplant as the recipe stated. Someone should pay closer attention. I’m glad I watched the video first and was able to adjust. He also put a little olive oil and more lemon zest after it was plated which the written recipe did not say to do. The video and the accompanying recipe should be pretty much in sync. It was very delicious though. I only gave it 3 stars due to the lack of accuracy. The actual dish was 5 stars if you watched the video first.

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