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WHAT YOU NEED…

Eggplant: Chinese is ideal for the shape and style of the dish.
Cornmeal: is simply dried and ground corn, which ranges in texture from fine to coarse. For this recipe, we are using fine to medium size to achieve a crispy coating.
Garbanzo bean flour: is a superstar in this recipe. I love working with garbanzo bean flour because it’s so diverse. In this recipe, I am using a thick coating of liquid. It brings a unique flavor and coats the eggplant perfectly.
Red Peppers: bring sweetness to the reduction. As it reduces, the natural sweetness comes out.

How To Make Cornmeal-Crusted Eggplant

If you have a gas range, you can use the flame to char the eggplant. Use tongs to turn the eggplant, and char the skin on all sides.
Cook the eggplant over medium-low heat and allow the cornmeal to slowly crisp up and become golden brown is key. Learning to be patient when cooking takes time to learn, cooking the eggplant over medium-low heat gives the eggplant time to become creamy and rich on the inside while the corn meal becomes gold-brown crisp.
Red Pepper Reduction sauce is such a powerhouse! You can adjust a few of the flavors to suit your palate. Add an additional pepper for even more heat, or less if you want less spice. A nice touch is to add a dash of maple syrup, it adds a counterbalance to the spice of the bird’s eye peppers. Honestly, I could have a jar of this around the house always.

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cornmeal Crusted, Eggplant

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 20

Servings: people

Calories: 221kcal

Cornmeal-crusted eggplant is a rustic dish that is elevated with red pepper reduction sauce.

You have two options with this step. If you have a gas burner, just place the eggplant in the flame cooking and turn as the skin starts to burn. The goal is to char and blister the skin on all sides of the eggplant. The second option is to char the eggplant in a hot, heavy cast iron pan. This method is slower and the pan needs to be very hot. Once the eggplant is charged place it in a bowl and cover it.
Once the eggplant is cool gently peel the chard skin off. It's okay if some of the skin sticks, it adds a nice smoky element to the eggplant.
Hold the eggplant at the stem end, using a fork gently pull the fork down the eggplant creating striations, and gently fan out the bottom of the eggplant.
Combine the garbanzo bean powder, poultry seasoning, salt, and water. The mixer should thick.
Gently place the eggplant in the mixture, flip and cod the other side. Place the coated eggplant in the cornmeal, press down on the eggplant, and coat both sides.
Heat a heavy cast iron pan over medium heat. The pan should not be too hot, it will burn the cornmeal before it can become crispy and golden brown. The cooking will take a little longer than you think it should, keep moving the eggplant around making sure it is crisp and golden brown. Flip the eggplant cooking the other side. The totally cooking tie will be around 15-18 minutes.

Cut the pepper in a julienne cut, and season with the salt and rice wine vinegar. Stir to combine and seaside for 30 minutes or overnight.
Toast the bird's eye pepper until lightly chard about 1 minute over medium heat.
Blend the red bell peppers and the bird's eye pepper using a high-speed blender, and blend for 2-3 minutes. Strain using a fine strainer or a nut milk-straining bag.
Place the strained puree in a pot with the tomato paste and slowly reduce over low heat until very thick. Stir every now and again. Cooking for about 20 minutes.
Whisk a small amount of extra virgin olive oil into the reduced pepper sauce. The sauce will start to get shiny as you add the EVOO, if it is looking very shiny stop adding the oil, it will separate if you add too much.
Adjust the salt set, remove it from the heat and set aside.

Nutritional values are an estimate.