Our Favourite Greek Baked Eggplant With Tomato & Feta
A simple Mediterranean side dish of baked eggplant with tomato sauce and feta cheese. Perfect served with grilled meat or by itself with some garlic bread on the side.
Servings: 2 to 4
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant / aubergine, sliced in half lengthwise and scored all over in a criss-cross pattern (without cutting through the skin).
- olive oil for baking
- 3 ounces feta cheese
for the tomato sauce
- 0.25 cups olive oil
- 5 cloves of garlic sliced
- 14 ounces chopped tomatoes (400 grams = 1 can)
- ½ bunch fresh basil optional
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 0.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/390F. Brush the eggplant with a generous amount of olive oil, and sprinkle with a bit of salt.1 eggplant
- Bake each eggplant half facedown in little separate baking dishes (or side by side in a slightly bigger baking dish) for about 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft.
- Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil on a medium heat in a pan with a large surface area, then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes (don’t brown the garlic), then add the chopped tomatoes, herbs and salt and pepper. Half fill the empty tomato can with water and add that to the pan, too.olive oil, 5 cloves of garlic, 14 ounces chopped tomatoes, ½ bunch fresh basil, 1 teaspoon salt , pepper
- Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes, then remove the herb sprigs. Add the sugar and balsamic vinegar and stir in.1 teaspoon sugar , 0.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Pour the tomato sauce over the eggplant/aubergines, then crumble over the feta. Bake for about another 15 minutes or until the tomato sauce is bubbling.3 ounces feta cheese
Notes
What baking dishes to use: I serve my eggplant halves in two separate dishes, but if you don't have two small suitable dishes, you can easily bake both in the same, slightly larger, dish. Obviously this dish is also very easy to double up on if you want to serve more than two.
Sauce: A tip for days when you're in a hurry. This Greek eggplant dish is amazing made with the homemade marinara sauce. However, at least half of the time, I use a jar of good quality pasta sauce instead. Shh, don't tell.
Make ahead instructions: I often make this dish ahead. Just bake the eggplant, pour over the sauce and scatter over the feta. Keep in the fridge covered until you're ready to serve it. Then bake for 15 minutes until hot and bubbling and the feta is slightly browned on top.
Leftover sauce: Why not make a double batch of the marinara sauce and use the rest as a simple pasta or pizza sauce? It freezes well!
How to serve: This dish is equally good served hot or a bit cooler (the greeks often serve this kind of dish at room temperature).
Serve alone with fresh crusty bread, garlic bread or 2-minute olive oil toasts (unless you need the meal to be gluten-free, of course, in which case forget the bread!), with grilled meats, chicken meatballs, Greek potatoes, or as a simple side dish.
Serves 4 as a side and 2 as a main.
Wild card option: Try with some of this delicious Italian pangrattato sprinkled over the top to serve!
Nutrition
Calories: 453kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 1927mg | Potassium: 923mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 465IU | Vitamin C: 23.5mg | Calcium: 292mg | Iron: 2.9mg
