Peperonata with Eggplant & Tomato

Recipe by Paola Bacchia
Characterize courtesy of Paola Bacchia

In the previous, eggplant became as soon as salted earlier than the utilization of to blueprint shut away bitterness—even though most eggplants sold by greengrocers today time are not in actuality bitter.

That acknowledged, I light salt the diced eggplant for this recipe, as I accumulate it’s a nice manner of seasoning the dish. It does blueprint shut a while, so in actuality be delighted to miss this step.

This dish makes a significant meal for vegetarians, a nice facet dish, and is also extinct as a wrong for a pair of batches of pasta. It’s far also halved and extinct in a risotto for four folks.

• 2 eggplants (aubergines), about 2 lbs. in entire
  

• 1 tbsp. salt, for salting the eggplant
  

• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  

• 1 minute white onion, diced
  

• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
  

• 1–2 crimson bell peppers (capsicums), minimize into ¾–1¼ in. dice
  

• 15½ oz. tinned peeled tomatoes
  

• 2–3 basil stalks
  

Instructions:

1. Gash the eggplant into 1¼–1½ plod chunks. Enviornment in a astronomical bowl and toss with the salt, rubbing it into the eggplant objects with your fingertips. Residing apart on a wire rack to empty for about Forty five minutes. Rinse below running water and pat dry.
2. Warmth the olive oil in a astronomical frying pan over medium–low warmth. Saute the onion with a true pinch of salt for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic. After a minute or two, when aromatic, add the eggplant and bell pepper to warmth thru.
3. Add the tomatoes, breaking any greater ones into smaller objects with a wood spoon. Rinse the tomato tin with about a tablespoons of water and add that to the frying pan as neatly, along with the basil stalks.
4. Once the total lot is effervescent away, decrease the warmth and place the lid on. Simmer for about Forty five minutes, together with a splash extra water if wanted, or until the eggplant is cooked thru but not completely collapsed. Kind for salt, especially when you occur to omitted salting the eggplant objects earlier; when you occur to did salt the eggplant, it’s seemingly you’ll presumably not want any extra salt.
5. Dispose of the basil stalks and relieve warm. Any leftovers will relieve in a ceramic or glass lidded container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Excerpted from At Nonna’s Table by Paola Bacchia, printed by Smith Road Books, 2024. Photography by © Paola Bacchia.