I had meant to post this recipe a while ago but sat on it for days. I am the world’s biggest procrastinator. I actually wrote the majority of my cookbook within the three months leading up to the manuscript’s due date. (PS: Please preorder if you can! My editor met me for lunch just to tell me to beg you all to preorder. I don’t fully understand why, but it’s very important. He came all the way from Greenpoint to the East Village to tell me, which is a reeeeally long way in this age of Zoom meetings and working from home.)
But you know who’s not procrastinating, this damn baby. She’s coming right now—three weeks early! Ham and I had so much work lined up this week, full days of meetings scheduled, and we had to cancel it all. Serves us right for trying to do so much right at the end of the pregnancy. This might be the last time I’ll ever have the luxury of procrastinating again. We had lots of plans of exactly how we’d hope this would all go down, but right now, the baby is in charge, and she’s ready, whether we are or not.
As we huff off to the hospital with a laptop fully loaded with episodes of Top Chef, here’s a recipe to help you get the most out of eggplant. In the summer, eggplant is meaty and dense, without advancing salting. At any other time of year, I wouldn’t dream of cooking eggplant without salting it first. The salting draws out excess moisture and bitterness. But right now, they are perfect as they are, so you should be cooking and eating lots of them.
Here, the eggplant is seared until blackened and tender, then simmered in a quick tomato sauce until tender. Most varieties will become tender all the way through just from the searing step, but if you have an heirloom variety, it may take longer to cook through. Just keep simmering it in the tomato sauce, adding a splash of water as needed, until you can easily pierce it with the tip of a paring knife. The eggplant is served alongside lentils and topped with a bright onion and parsley salad. Add a dollop of salted yogurt alongside if you want something creamy and tangy to bring it all together.
Happy cooking! Next time you hear from me there will be a new human (wild!).
Charred Eggplant & Black Lentils with Burst Tomato Sauce
serves 4 | active time: 1 hour | total time: at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours
INGREDIENTS
For the lentils:
8 ounces dry black lentils, rinsed
kosher salt
2 cups stock or broth, any kind
1/2 medium red onion, peeled & halved
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 hot pepper (such as jalapeno or serrano), halved
For the onion & parsley salad:
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup lightly packed parsley leaves and tender stems
1 lemon, juiced
kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
For the eggplant & tomato sauce:
neutral oil
2 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), cut in half lengthwise
kosher salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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