Fairytale Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces – Get to know this cute little eggplant variety with a zesty and savory recipe that can serve as an appetizer or side dish with some Middle Eastern flair!

Two years ago my husband, son, and I decided to go for a late summer wander around our local farmer’s market on a sunny and cool Saturday morning. We splurged on some freshly roasted coffee for the parents and freshly baked pastry for the kid (okay, and the parents too). In addition to my normal farmer’s market picks, I just had to impulsively buy some pretty little fairytale eggplants that a local farmer was featuring.

At the time, my teeny-tiny eggplants were new to me, so I honestly couldn’t think of what to do with them. They sat in my kitchen looking pretty for days until they turned to stinky eggplant mush. It was so sad and I had total wasted-food shame.

Then this summer I got my second chance with pixie eggplant! Much to my delight, my local CSA crop share had them available. This was it! This was my chance at eggplant redemption! I carefully brought my little treasures home, saving them at least once from accidental squashing by 6-year-old.  I then immediately got to recipe development and cooking!

What I came up with was this recipe for flavorful Fairytale Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces. To start, the eggplant is grilled, which brings out it’s sweetness and savoriness. I love the combination of eggplant with Middle Eastern flavors, so I paired it with my recipe for Lebanese Garlic Sauce (one of my favorite sauces of all time). To add a little zing I dressed it with some roasted red pepper sauce. This recipe is delicious served as an appetizer, or consider serving it as a side with lamb, chicken, or even white fish for a complete meal. My little eggplants are so tasty that I finally feel like I redeemed myself from the fairytale eggplant debacle of 2015!

Fairytale Eggplant with Red Pepper and Garlic Sauces

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Get to know this cute little eggplant variety with a zesty and savory recipe that can serve as an appetizer or side dish with some Middle Eastern flair!

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Ingredients

Lebanese Garlic Sauce

• 2/3 C sour cream
• 1 1/2 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp chives, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Eggplant

• 1 lb Fairytale Eggplant
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• fresh parsley for garnish

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

• 1 C jarred roasted red peppers that has been drained
• 1/8 C olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. To make the Lebanese Garlic Sauce combine all of the ingredients in a bowl until smooth and set the sauce aside until you are ready to serve it with the eggplant. For more detailed directions, check out the link at the bottom of my blog post to find an entire post dedicated to this sauce.
2. To make the eggplant, wash the eggplant and slice in half. Lightly coat the eggplant in olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on a griddle, lightly covered with foil over medium heat for about 8 minutes, turning midway. Note that the cook time may vary depending on the size of your eggplant.
3. While the eggplant is cooking, you can make the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. Using a blender or a food processor, puree the roasted red peppers, olive oil, and salt and pepper until smooth. Set the pepper sauce aside until you are ready to assemble your dish.
4. To serve spread a layer of garlic sauce on a plate, stack the eggplant in a pretty pattern and then drizzle with the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. Serve immediately.

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