Pickled Eggplant (Melanzane Sott'Aceto)

Serves:
20+ (depending on size of portions)
Total Time:
Prep time: 20 minutes
Wait time: 6-7 hours
Cook time: 10 minutes
Notes:
*It is very important to let the eggplant sit under the weight for at least 6-7 hours so that the water can come out.  The longer it sits under the weight, the better. 

​Ingredients

• 5 medium sized eggplant (the slender the eggplant, the better!)
• Salt
• 1 ½ cups white vinegar
• ½ cup of water
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Crushed oregano
• Red pepper flakes
• Garlic powder or crushed garlic

Instructions:

1. Wash and peel eggplant.
2. Cut into slices.
3. Place paper towel on plate and begin layering eggplant.
4. Sprinkle salt over each piece of eggplant.
5. Place another plate or cutting board over layered eggplant.
6. Put weight on top of cutting board or plate, let sit for at least 6-7 hours.
7. (Do not skip this step.)  The salt and weight will pull water out of the eggplant.
8. Then pat each piece of eggplant dry.
9. Either slice into long strips or leave as slices.
10. Bring 1 ½ cups of vinegar and ½ cup of water to a boil.
11. Par-boil each slice or batch of strips quickly and remove to another plate.
12. Let cool thoroughly before canning.
13. In a mason jar, pour in olive oil, oregano, red pepper, garlic and then the eggplant.
14. Repeat to the top of the jar.
15. Make sure that everything is covered with oil.  Seal jar. 
16. Enjoy!

Nutritional Information:
Per Serving:  Calories: 7, Carbs: 1, Fat: 0, Protein: 0, Sodium: 228, Sugar: 1. 

Notes:
*It is very important to let the eggplant sit under the weight for at least 6-7 hours so that the water can come out.  The longer it sits under the weight, the better.  

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Our fellow parishioners at our church have become somewhat of an extended family to us.   There is an Italian gentleman at our church who reminds me a lot of my late nonno.  In fact, we say that he is my son’s honorary great-grandpa (nonno-nonno in Italian.)  While my husband and I had a garden this summer, our son’s nonno-nonno has given us a variety of vegetables and fruit that we did not grow on our own this year.  He even gave us his homemade wine, which my husband savored to the last sip. 

This past Sunday, ‘nonno-nonno’ gave us some “garden treasures” and I was so excited!  This time he gave us a bag of fresh eggplant.  I immediately thought of my late nonna’s recipe for pickled eggplant or melanzane sott'aceto.  My mouth began to water the second I saw that it was eggplant in the bag.  

I remember my nonna would always search for the slender and long eggplant and admonish any eggplant that was too thick.  She said that the longer and leaner the eggplant, the better, as they get more bitter as they get larger.  I keep that tip in my mind each time I purchase eggplant at the store.  I was even more excited when we got home and I saw that the eggplant that he gave us were ones that my nonna would have picked herself. 

So, I washed, peeled, sliced, salted and placed the eggplant under weights.  (Literally, I used exercise weights on top of the cutting board.)  Please do not rush this step.  It is important to get as much water out of the eggplant as possible so that it can absorb the vinegar while par-boiling.  

I chose to slice the eggplant into strips but they are also delicious in slices.  While I love to eat this pickled eggplant as is, you can put it on a sandwich, on a charcuterie board, over grilled chicken or on a garden salad.  While my son is not a fan of this particular recipe, that just means that there is more for us!  😉

I offer him some each time I eat it in hopes that he will eventually grow to like pickled eggplant, as I love pickling vegetables.

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​​Buon appetito! ​