Eggplant baked in the oven - general principles and methods of cooking
All year round on the shelves of shops we can see this wonderful oblong vegetable of blue-violet color. Previously, eggplants were mostly fried. Tasty and healthy delicacy turned into a fatty dish with an abundance of carcinogens, since during frying eggplants absorb a large amount of oil. Modern technologies have made great strides forward, providing us with a large number of highly functional equipment: ovens, ovens, microwaves, multivarks. Along with them appeared many recipes for baking products. Eggplants baked in the oven, perhaps, occupy the highest degree of popularity. And no wonder!
Baked eggplants are a tasty and healthy dish combined with a lot of ingredients. You can at least every day to prepare different options, and they can never get bored. Eggplants themselves are the best way to help balance the diet, while at the same time being sources of various very valuable substances for the body (potassium, phosphorus, iron, vegetable proteins). In the oven, the filling absorbs moisture from the fruit and does not allow them to absorb oil or other fats, so the dishes are various and, most importantly, useful. The most inept mistress will be able to cook them correctly, they are almost impossible to spoil. Using different fillings, each time you can discover this vegetable from different sides.
Baked eggplants in the oven - food preparation
Properly preparing eggplants for baking is to remove bitterness from them. Make it simple - cut them in half and pinch, leave for 20 minutes. Then rinse under running water - all the bitterness will be removed along with the juice. Choose medium-sized, evenly colored fruits, juicy, with green tails. In this case, the peel is not removed, and if the fruit is overripe, remove the core and do not use it to minimize the content of unhealthy solanine. The filling should be prepared and brought to at least half-ready, as the eggplants prepare quickly - it will not take 30-40 minutes, the flavored dish is ready!
Recipe 1: Eggplant baked in the oven in a milk sauce
Milk sauce, or milk sauce is not very often used with eggplants. And in vain! Milk sauce perfectly softens minced meat and neutralizes tomato sharpness.
Ingredients: eggplants (3 pieces, about 600 grams), minced meat, preferably low-fat (300 grams), onions (1 pieces, about 100 grams), tomatoes (300 grams), vegetable oil, garlic, parsley, salt, pepper.
Sauce: flour (2 tablespoons), butter (2 tablespoons), milk (250 gr.), Egg (1 pc.), Grated cheese (50 grams).
Method of preparation
Prepared eggplant reserve to remove bitterness. At this time, fry the minced meat with finely chopped onion. Stew tomatoes and parsley separately, squeeze garlic. You need to wait for the liquid to evaporate, and then combine the mixture with the minced meat. Dry eggplants with a napkin and fill with minced meat. Cooking sauce: fry the flour in a saucepan or pan and add the butter. All diluted with milk so that there are no lumps. Carefully pour a beaten egg into a slightly cooled sauce, add salt and add grated cheese. Eggplants laid on a baking sheet (groove up) pour sauce and put in the oven for baking. The sauce should be reddened. You can add some water. Fans of spicy and savory flavors can add a little grated ginger to the minced meat.
Recipe 2: Eggplants baked in an oven in sour cream
In this recipe we use a good piece of lean beef, which we boil and cut into strips. Tomatoes and lemon will do their job - the dish is obtained with a pleasant sourness, which enhances, in general, not too strongly pronounced taste of eggplants.
Ingredients: eggplants (5 pcs.), Beef (200 grams), tomatoes (3 pcs.), Onion, parsnip, garlic, half a lemon, sunflower oil, dill, pepper, salt, sour cream 150 grams.
Method of preparation
First, boil the beef, as its preparation takes the greatest amount of time. Do not forget to salt it and remove foam in time. Rinse the tomatoes and boil the boiling water. Peel and clean the seeds. Cut everything into small pieces. Stew in a skillet until half cooked, add 100 grams of broth. After 10 minutes, squeeze the juice from half a lemon, rub the grated zest and add the chopped dill. The meat is cut into thin strips, mixed with the rest of the composition. Do not cut off the eggplant stalk - it will serve as decoration. Cut the eggplant like a book, leaving one side undercooked. Remove the middle part, put them in boiling water for 5 minutes (we add some salt to the water). Stuff eggplants and put them tightly in a baking dish. Pour them with sour cream and send to the oven for 1 hour. Serve with greens and a little sour cream.
Recipe 3: Eggplants Baked in a Cheese Oven
Any products baked under a fragrant cheese crust are classics of the genre. This property of cheese is quite applicable for eggplants. It turns out really serious meat dish, rich, nutritious, after it a long time do not want to eat. Call it what you want: puff or stuffed - it does not matter. The main thing - it is very tasty.
Ingredients: (small, 5-6 pieces), minced meat (1 kg), onions (2-3 pieces), hard cheese (50 grams), milk (150 ml.), Eggs (3- 4 pieces), a glass of tomato juice with pulp, salt, pepper, dill, parsley, butter or vegetable oil for frying.
Method of preparation
Cut the washed eggplants into quarters and fry in vegetable oil. Half of the fried fruit laid in a pan, skinned down. On the first layer put the pieces of butter. Then evenly lay stuffing mixed with chopped greens and salted. Onions, fried in vegetable oil, spread on top, pour tomato juice and lay out the remaining eggplant crusts up. Fill all the eggs, whipped with milk and mixed with grated cheese. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes.
Recipe 4: Stuffed Eggplant Baked with Almonds with Mayonnaise
The savory and refined taste of almonds will make our dish completely new, not simple, but very original. Mixing almonds with ginger and lemon, we get a very oriental taste. Meat and zucchini make it rich and nutritious, but not very heavy.
Ingredients: eggplants (4 pieces), minced meat (you can chicken or beef, 250 grams), zucchini (half fruit of medium size), almonds (150 grams), half lemon, ginger, mayonnaise (2 tbsp. spoons), herbs, salt. Method of preparation
Cut out the middle eggplant. Zucchini cut into cubes, fry in a spoonful of butter. Add eggplant pulp and other ingredients: onion, garlic, salt, fry for another 5 minutes. On a coffee grinder, chop the almond kernels and add the juice of half a lemon, along with the grated zest and pureed ginger. Mixing stuffing with ground beef, Stuffing Eggplants with stuffing and pour almond sauce. We bake at a high temperature - about 220 degrees. Bake for about 40 minutes. Before serving, be sure to sprinkle with chopped dill.
Eggplant baked in the oven - tips from experienced chefs
- In order to better rid the eggplants of bitterness, you can make cross-shaped cuts on them and salt them for a while.
- It is possible to get rid of excessive absorption of oil in the frying process, if you temporarily put the eggplants under the load - more juice will stand out before frying.
- Spicy garlic flavor dish can be given by cutting the skin of the fruit and stuffing it with slices of garlic.
