roasted eggplant with cumin & lime

Based on a recipe from the San Francisco Chronicle, this can be served as an appetizer scooped up with seeded crackers or as a crostini topping, as a side dish with roasted lamb or chicken, or as a pita filler with roasted red bell pepper and sliced feta cheese. You can find preserved lemons at well-stocked grocery stores or you can make them with a little planning ahead, or you can leave them out. It's still delicious.

serves 6 as an appetizer; 4 as side dish

prep time: 20 minutes

cook time: 35 minutes

2 Italian eggplants, about 1 pound each
olive oil
 kosher salt
1 lime
1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 to 1/2 of a whole preserved lemon, optional

seeded crackers or toasted baguette slices, optional

parsley for garnish

Preheat an oven to 400°.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. With a fork, pierce one of the eggplants in several places. Place pierced eggplant on one of the baking sheets. Cut the other eggplant into 1-inch cubes, discarding stem (do not peel). In a bowl, toss eggplant cubes with enough olive oil to coat, about 3 tablespoons. Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt and toss again. Spread the cubes on the other baking sheet. Place both baking sheets in the oven and roast until the skin of the whole eggplant is wrinkled and the flesh has almost collapsed (to test, pierce eggplant with a skewer) and the cubes are golden brown and fragrant, about 35 minutes each. Remove each sheet of eggplant from the oven when it is done and set aside to cool slightly.

When the whole eggplant is just cool enough to handle, cut off the stem, then pull off the skin (use a knife if it sticks in places). Put flesh in a bowl and mash roughly with a fork. Squeeze juice from half the lime over the eggplant, add the cumin and 2 tablespoons of olive oil; stir well. Stir in eggplant cubes, then season to taste with salt and adjust seasonings for more lime juice and/or oil if desired. If using preserved lemon, finely chop the skin and flesh from a quarter-lemon and stir into the eggplant; taste and add more preserved lemon if desired.

To serve as an appetizer, mound mixture into a serving dish, garnish with parsley and serve with crackers. Or spoon onto toasted baguette slices and garnish each with a parsley leaf to serve as crostini. (Note: can be served warm or at room temperature.)

As a side dish, serve eggplant while still warm.

to make preserved lemons: you will need at least 8 lemons, preferably Meyer lemons, and they take 3 weeks to be ready: one by one, cut 6 of the lemons into quarters through one end without cutting all the way through—you want lemon to open out like a flower, but not to separate. Place cut lemon on a piece of parchment or waxed paper, spread quarters open and sprinkle flesh with a heaping tablespoon of kosher salt; put lemon into a clean 1-pint canning jar. Continue with remaining lemons, sprinkling salt on each one before adding to jar. Pack lemons tightly, filling jar to the top (you may need more or less than 6 lemons, depending on their size). Lift up parchment paper and pour excess salt from paper into jar. Squeeze enough juice from remaining lemons to fill the jar with liquid to the rim. Screw on lid, shake jar well, and let stand at room temperature, shaking well every 12 hours, for 1 week. After 1 week, transfer jar to the refrigerator. Lemons are ready to use after 3 weeks and keep up to 6 months in the refrigerator.