Romanian Roasted Eggplant Spread II
Salată de vinete (eggplant salad) is a common Romanian spread made with eggplants and onion. It is usually eaten with bread.
- Prep
- 12 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 45 min
- Total
- 1 hr 57 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Equipment
Grill or oven
Equipment
Knife
Equipment
Chopping board
Equipment
Bowl
Equipment
Blender (optional)
Procedure
Roast the eggplants. This can be done in a variety of ways, but the flesh should be fully cooked and the skin should be burned and falling off easily. An effective method is to prick the eggplants and place them in a preheated 400 °F oven until the skin is charred and a fork easily pierces the vegetable all the way through.
Procedure
Skin the the eggplants—the skin should come off easily by hand. Use the back of a table knife to scrape off any residual eggplant from the skin once the skin is removed—this portion of eggplant retains the smoky flavor and should not be discarded.
Procedure
Finely chop or blend the eggplant flesh. The consistency should be smooth, like a purée.
Procedure
Transfer the eggplant to a bowl, and mix in the other ingredients. The amounts can be adjusted for taste.
Procedure
Chill in the fridge until serving.
Notes, tips, and variations
For garnish, you may add olives, tomatoes, the Romanian cheese telemea (similar to feta), or sometimes even peppers.
Notes, tips, and variations
Do not use olive oil because it makes the dish bitter.[1][2]
Notes, tips, and variations
The dish improves overnight as the onion flavor permeates the eggplant.
Notes, tips, and variations
If the dish seems too strong tasting or too bitter for you, make sure you try including the mayonnaise.
Notes, tips, and variations
Baba ganoush is a similar Middle Eastern spread, but it uses tahini and lemon.
Photo: Sacha47 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 15 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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