Every late summer and fall, I’m always so impressed/jealous of all my friends who are plucking the fruits (and vegetables) of their summer-long labors and harvesting the stuff from their gardens. So this year, I decided I would also grow a garden. I would be among my domestic and wholesome friends, picking, eating, and preserving tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, and herbs. That was in April.
In late May/June, I was gone for 18 days.
When I got back to Louisiana, I remembered why I don’t go outside to do things like, say, water my plants.
Right now, the herbs are still alive. I have decided that next year, I will be an avid herb gardener (preferably herbs that don’t care if they get watered or not).
The good news is that I know a lot of people who grow gardens (including my friend Jeni who special-ordered “homosexual” zucchini because she didn’t have any bees to pollinate her traditional zucchini blossoms) and they are always more than happy to share their bounties with me. This is how I came home the other day with a bag full of eggplant.
If not done right, the texture of eggplant can get a little…gross. Also, I am a sucker for roasted vegetables. Also, I am a sucker for dips and spreads. Good news for me? It’s pretty much impossible to mess up roasted eggplant (especially when you puree it after you roast it).
You’ll need a medium eggplant, 2 red bell peppers, 1 red onion, a few cloves of garlic, some tomato paste or oven-roasted tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper. Seriously, this spread is really and truly super healthy (which will make you feel less bad about it when you can’t stop eating it).
Preheat your oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Chop the eggplant, onion, and red peppers into 1″ cubes and place them in a large bowl. Smash the garlic and add it to the eggplant mixture. 
Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss the mixture with your hands until all the vegetables are well-coated. Spread the mixture onto the foil-lined baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast the vegetables for 20 minutes. Stir/flip the veggies with a spatula and then roast for another 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and browning.
Allow the mixture to cool for a few minutes and then transfer the vegetables to a blender or a food processor. Add the tomato paste (or roasted tomatoes, which is what I used) and pulse until the desired consistency is reached. Serve the dip warm with slices of baguette, sourdough bread, Flatbread, Rosemary Focaccia, Naan, pitas, pita chips, your finger, a spoon, whatever. 
This would also be an amazing, flavorful vegetarian sauce to toss hot pasta in for a light summer meal straight from your garden (because goodness knows it’s not coming from my garden).
Roasted Eggplant Spread
Recipe lightly adapted from Ina Garten
1 medium eggplant
2 red bell peppers
1 medium red onion
3-4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste or pureed oven-roasted tomatoes
Preheat oven to 400 and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set aside. Chop eggplant, peppers, and onion into 1″ cubes. Smash the garlic. Toss together the vegetables and then drizzle them in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to evenly coat the vegetables and then spread them over the prepared baking sheet. Place the pan in the oven and roast the vegetables for 20 minutes. Flip/stir the vegetables with a spatula and then roast for another 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and browning. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Place the roasted vegetables along with the tomato paste or roasted tomatoes into a blender or food processor and pulse until the desired consistency is reached. Serve warm with slices of sourdough bread, pita chips, flatbread, or Rosemary Focaccia. You can also toss this sauce with hot pasta for a light vegetarian meal.
Questions & Reviews
Absolutely delicious! How long will this keep and what is the best way to store it?
Can this be made ahead? What’s the best way to reheat?
I love this recipe. I especially like using it instead of mayonnaise on roast chicken sandwiches. My favorite tweak on the recipe is to use Cajun Seasoning instead of just salt and pepper on the veggies when I roast then. Heaven! Thanks gals. <3
I love this, but made too much! Does it freeze well?
How fun! This looks like a condiment I had in Croatia called ajvar (pronounced eye-var) made from roasted red pepper and eggplant. We ate it on bread and fried dough. It was sooooo good, and I haven’t been able to find anything like it in the States. Homemade it is! Can’t wait to try your recipe!
Made this today for Christmas entree, loved it! Thank you.
I made this for a healthy option at my book club last week and it was a big hit! I loved munching the leftovers so much that I made it again today, only I soupified it by adding 8oz tomato sauce and 2c chicken broth to the blender (YEAY, Blendtec!)–and afterward I also added two cans of drained black beans to add some protein.
OH. MY. YUM!
So, just so y’know…this recipe can totally be modified into a SUUUUUPER yummy, delicious soup!
this was good! i made it as written and threw the entire batch with about 8 oz of pasta and some steamed cauliflower with some of the pasta water and some shredded mozzerella. my 3 yr old and 20month old even ate it and they are very picky…thanks for the recipe
A favorite adaptation we use is to throw the halved eggplant on the grill until soft (10-15 min). Roast the red peppers and tomatoes (they need less time). Place both in a shopping bag to steam. Scrape eggplant, peel peppers, tomatoes and chop. Stir in chopped red onion, garlic, lemon or lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper (to taste). Serve chunky on fresh pita or french bread toast. Good with cilantro or parsley added.
We had a lot of eggplant this summer and froze the roasted eggplant mush to make this winter. The eggplant can be mixed with olive oil, tahini paste, and minced garlic or onion to make baba ganush.
I like to dip plain grilled or cooked chicken in this dip. Easy, fast and low-carb snack!
I have commented before on how awesome this is but thought I would add two new things that I like dip it with….Chicken Nuggets and Jicama sticks. Yummy. Thanks again for this awesome recipe.
Wow – this was delicious and easy, and pretty healthy, too. I went a little crazy shopping and this gave me something to do with my eggplant (besides eggplant parmigiana or veg fajitas, which are all I’ve ever done) before it went bad. Thanks! And I’m very intrigued by the idea of roasting some hot peppers with it. Wouldn’t it be a nice variation to have a little heat??