Eggplant in Olive Oil

I love living by the beach, especially in summer, smelling the ocean as I turn around the corner to my street, being able to go for a quick swim after work, or enjoy a long relaxing day at the beach without the hassle of looking for a parking spot.

However, my dreams of doing nothing but reading and swimming were shattered when we woke up to a yet another rainy Saturday last week.

I have been living in Sydney long enough to know that it rains more in summer than in winter, but the Mediterranean in me still gets devastated every time I wake up to a rainy summer day.

How I miss the long, steaming hot Mediterranean summers where the heat is a consistent 30 something degrees and the sun dominates the skies all day without a hint of a cloud or a drop of rain!


The fresh mornings start with a quick dip into the azure blue waters of the sea followed by a big breakfast of sun ripened tomato slices topped with crumbled feta cheese, fresh mint leaves and drizzled with a generous amount of olive oil, black and green olives topped with slices of lemon and thyme leaves, sucuk (beef salami) and fresh eggs served warm on the frying pan, accompanied by a huge pot of freshly brewed black tea and warm simit (Turkish bagel) from the bakery.


Then a quick mid-morning visit to one of the many teyzeler (aunties - in Turkey, out of respect, kids always address their parents' friends as teyze (aunt) or amca (uncle)) for a daily dose of the combination of Turkish coffee, daily gossip and a coffee cup reading session.

The lazy afternoons are spent by the beach cafe, playing tavla (backgammon) or okey (rummikub) while sipping an ice cold Efes beer and eating sizzling hot chips with ketchup and mayo on the side.

Then comes the evening.

We head home after one last swim, as the sun sets over the sea and the lights start to appear at the fish restaurants on the other side of the marina.

The table is adorned with home made mezeler (appetisers); feta slices, zeytingyagli fasulye (green beans in olive oil), deniz borulcesi (samphire salad drizzled with a sauce of minced garlic, lemon juice and olive oil), tereyagli karides (baby prawns cooked in butter and chilli flakes), and patlican biber kizartma (fried eggplant and green banana peppers topped with a sauce made from fresh tomatoes and garlic.)

Raki (traditional Turkish drink made with grapes and aniseed) is poured into glasses topped with cold water and ice cubes. First "Serefe!" (Cheers!) of the night is uttered as the glasses touch each other, the repetition of which will become more frequent as the night progresses and the glasses keep refilling.

The smell of a whole cupra (bream), lightly dusted with flour and brushed with olive oil, starts to tickle your nose as the wind carries its smell across from the charcoal BBQ. You linger on the table having one more mouthful of your favourite meze while waiting for your fish to be served with a big green salad drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil. As the midnight comes, the dinner ends with slices of chilled melon and watermelon accompanied by more feta cheese and one last glass of raki.

Well, you get the idea.

More importantly I am now officially starving!

So, here is an idea.

Maybe I cannot do much about the lazing under the sun part, but I sure can make it taste like summer.

And what a better way to do it other than making one of my favorite summer dishes!


Zeytinyagli Patlican (Eggplant in olive oil)

Ingredients:
3 small eggplants

1 tin of 400 gr peeled whole tomatoes

2 medium brown onions

3 cloves of garlic

Extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt to taste

Chopped parsley leaves (to serve)

Here is how:

The original way of making this dish is by frying the eggplants, but spending about an hour over a hot fry pan in the middle of summer is not my cup of tea. So I opt for the healthier and less monitored option of baking the eggplant in the oven. Once combined with the sauce and waited in the fridge for a couple of hours, nobody can tell apart the difference and your waistline will be grateful.

Preheat your fan forced oven to 180 C degrees.

Wash the eggplant under running water. Fill a large bowl half way with water and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Mix to combine.

Slice the eggplant into about 1cm thick round slices and soak them in the salty water. Leave them for 15-20 minutes until the water darkens slightly. This process helps extract the bitterness of the eggplant but also prevents too much  oil to be soaked by the slices.

Get the eggplant out of the salty water, quickly rinse and pat dry with a tea towel. Layer the eggplant slices on a shallow baking tray and brush both sides with a generous amount of olive oil.

Place them on the tray in a single layer and place the tray in the middle of the oven and let them bake for about 40 minutes until the slices are soft and slightly colored. Turn the slices once to ensure even coloring.

Meanwhile, peel the onions and slice thinly in half moons. Then peel the garlic and slice thinly. 

Place a large shallow pan on low heat, add a good glug of olive oil to form a thin layer of oil in the pan. Combine salt, sugar, sliced onions and stir regularly until the onions soften - not  brown - and become transparent.

Then add the garlic and stir for another couple of minutes until the garlic releases its smell and flavour. 

Chop thinly or purée the tin tomatoes and add them to the onions and garlic mix. Let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes until the sauce thickens and changes color slightly. Add 1/3 cup of water to the mix.

Layer the roasted eggplant slices on the tomato mixture and cover the lid and cook for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and cool. 

Layer the eggplant slices overlapping into a shallow dish and pour over the tomato sauce evenly to cover up the slices. Let it cool then refrigerate.

Take out the dish from the fridge 20 minutes before serving and serving sprinkle the chopped parsley leaves.

Afiyet Olsun!