Crispy garlic slices and thyme leaves transform farm stand eggplant into an elegant dish.
By Jessica Dang
Japanese Eggplant with Garlic and Thyme
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Crispy garlic slices and thyme leaves transform farm stand eggplant into an elegant dish.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 small Japanese eggplant, or a small regular eggplant
- 3–4 large cloves of wild garlic, or regular garlic
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Maldon sea salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Wash and dry the eggplant. Cut into thick 1/2-inch slices. Set aside.
- Peel and slice the garlic into big chunks.
- Heat up a cast iron pan over medium-high heat with a slick of olive oil and add the sprigs of thyme. Move them around with a wooden spatula so that they infuse into the oil.
- Scatter the garlic into the pan and brown them. Make sure you get both sides. I find that chopsticks are a helpful tool in flipping the garlic. Remove from the pan and set aside. They should be nice and crispy!
- Lower the heat to medium and add the sliced eggplants to the pan. What you’ll find is the eggplants will be extremely absorbent, so you’ll have to periodically adding a splash of olive oil to the pan while they’re cooking. Continue cooking until they soften and brown. Crush some Maldon sea salt flakes over the pan and add a shower of freshly cracked black pepper.
- Turn off the heat and remove the stems from the thyme. Fold in the crispy garlic with a wooden spatula and pile onto a plate or into a bowl.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side
