Balkan Eggplant Casserole
In the Balkans, they bake savory ingredients in a mix of eggs with Greek yogurt or sour cream, creating a rich, tender, creamy custard. In the traditional recipes for this dish, the eggplant is salted to remove excess liquid and then fried, and the tomatoes are stewed separately, but I find that oven-roasting them both together accomplishes a similar result much more quickly and easily. It’s supposed to have a peppery bite, but you can cut the pepper level if you don’t like that.
This recipe is not a lot of work, but it does take some time, because it bakes in the oven twice.
Abby Schweber
Ingredients
1-1.5 lbs. eggplant*
1 lb. tomato*
4 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
½ cup parsley
3 large eggs*
1½ Tbs. dried tarragon or dill
2 Tbs. sour cream or Greek yogurt
4 oz. crumbled feta*
*These ingredients can be found at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market
Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut eggplant and tomato into 1” cubes. Put in an 8”x8” casserole dish (or something of similar size) and toss with oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, then set aside.
Finely chop parsley.
Turn oven down to 300 degrees.
While the oven is coming down to temperature, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream or yogurt, and tarragon or dill until egg begins to froth.
Spread the eggplant mix evenly in the casserole dish. Cover with parsley and cheese.
Pour egg mixture evenly over the casserole, nudging the ingredients around until the egg fills all the spaces.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake 20 more minutes.
