Slow-Baked Moroccan Eggplant with Ras el Hanout, caramelized garlic, shallots and tomatoes. A rustic side dish that can be served with fish or meat, or turned into a hearty vegetarian main. Serve with Basmati Rice or homemade Pita bread, and Tzatziki Sauce. (Allow 2 hours.)
Whatever is rejected from the self, appears in the world as an event. ~ Jung
Hi friends, here’s a flavorful Moroccan-inspired eggplant recipe I think you’ll savor. Long thin eggplant roast in the oven low and slow, with a copious amount of olive oil, until their centers are creamy and their edges are caramelized. Infused with Moroccan spices (a spice-blend call Ras El Hanout) that you can buy or make at home, your kitchen will smell amazing.
Slow roasting the eggplant in the oven for a couple of hours will yield meltingly tender eggplant while allowing one time to putter around the house and get other things done- perfect for lazy Sundays.;)
Serve this Moroccan Eggplant as a flavorful side dish to grilled meats or fish -or as a vegetarian main along with basmati rice, tzatziki or hummus and a fresh salad like Tabouli, this Chickpea Salad or even this Israeli Salad!
This recipe is best made with smaller, Japenese-style eggplant that is most easily found at the farmers market. I would even dare to say, the smaller the eggplant, the better the results!
Ingredients for Slow-Bake Moroccan Eggplant:
- Japanese, Chinese or Fairytale Eggplant
- Olive oil
- Ras El Hanout (Moroccan Spice Blend) you can make this
- Garlic cloves
- Shallots
- Tomatoes
- Lemon zest
- Garnishes: olives, fresh dill, Italian parsley
Seek out long thin eggplants- Japanese, Chinese or Fairytale eggplant – these work the best here!
Today I used this lovely Villa Jerada Ras El Hanout – that we offer at our store, instead of making it myself – and either way works great.
You can also serve the meltingly tender eggplant in a toasty pita bread with tzatziki sauce for a quick and tasty lunch. One of my favorites!
I really love this Moroccan Eggplant paired with the tzatziki sauce– so tasty! Whether it’s in a sandwich or on the side, they are good together!
Make this on a day that you have ample time at home to cook without rushing.
Hope you enjoy!
Sylvia
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Meltingly Tender Moroccan Eggplant
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 90
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 8
- Category: side dish, vegetarian
- Method: baked, roasted
- Cuisine: moroccan
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Slow-Baked Moroccan Eggplant with Ras el Hanout, caramelized garlic, shallots and tomatoes. A rustic side dish that can be turned into a hearty vegetarian main. Serve with Basmati Rice or homemade Pita, and Tzatziki Sauce. (This makes a big batch, feel free to cut in half.)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs eggplant- Japanese, Chinese or fairytale
- 10 garlic cloves
- 2 fat shallots, quartered
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons ras el hanout or Villa Jerada Ras El Hanout
- 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (or sub fennel seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 medium tomatoes (or 1 lb cherry tomatoes)
- large lemon zest pieces, from one lemon (use a veggie peeler or sharp knife)
Garnish: kalamata or Moroccan olives, Italian parsley, chili flakes ( like Aleppo or Urfa)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F
Cut eggplant in half lengthwise (no thicker than 3/4 inch) and place in an ovenproof baking dish along with the whole garlic cloves and shallots.
In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, ras el hanout, and caraway seeds.
Pour over the eggplant and toss well to coat. Cover with foil and bake 20 mins on the middle rack.
After the first 20 minutes, lower heat to 350F and uncover. Add the tomatoes, zest and give a toss.
Continue baking 50-75 minutes, uncovered, checking every 20 minutes, giving a gentle stir, until the eggplant is meltingly tender and creamy. Depending on the eggplant size, the time may vary. Please be patient here and check more often if eggplants are very small.
Once the eggplant is very tender, and edges are crisp, pull out of the oven, cover lightly with foil until ready to serve. Garnish with the olives, fresh herbs and optional chili flakes.
Serve warm or at room temp.
Notes
This Villa Jerada Ras El Hanout is absolutely amazing.
Keywords: moroccan Eggplant, slow baked eggplant, baked eggplant, roasted eggplant, vegan eggplant recipe, eggplant side dish
Also delicious with Harissa!
Could you make this in advance and reheat?
Absolutly!
Healthy and gorgeously delicious, what else can you ask for?
★★★★★
Simply fantastic recipe. I’ve made it at least 6times always delicious! Thanks
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Glad this is working for you Donna!
This was the second recipe of yours that I cooked this week and wow! The eggplant really does melt in your mouth. I used fairy tale eggplants and threw in some turnips and mini bell peppers from my CSA. Served as a handheld on warm naan with Tzatziki. It was a great way to use up spare veggies and the whole family (even meat eaters) loved it! Very unique and will definitely make it again.
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This was amazing! Thank you! I only had a regular eggplant, so I just cut it width wise and then sliced into 1/2 inch strips. Also, since I only had one eggplant, I added 3 bell peppers. I went down to 1/2 cup of oil and it was still great. Will definitely make again!
★★★★★
Perfect, love it!
Love this, even with regular eggplant turned out really well. Wondering, have you tried freezing? Im the only one who enjoys eggplant on our house and though I CAN eat this all myself…would be really lovely to defrost in winter fur a little summer freshness. Just unsure of the texture. Any experience you can share?
I’m not sure, but my guess is it would be fine.
I made this eggplant and the ras el out recipe.. I found the eggplant needed to be cooked longer as it I enjoy it very soft. I could not bring myself to use 3/4c oil….I subbed some carrot juice and used 2 T oil along with some oil in the casserole. served with your suggestions of olives (I had green olives with garlic and lemon), a side of vegan Foragers plain yogurt and rice. I am in heaven. Thank you
I was wondering, should you peel the eggplant? or at least take some of the peel off?
★★★★★
Thanks Suzanne- yes it is a lot of oil. Kind of like a confit. Glad you adapted with good results. I leave the peel on but if too much for you, you could use a veggie peeler, to remove some in strips?
This Recipe is fabulous! I had some fairy tale eggplants I got from the farmer’s market and had never cooked with them before. I found this recipe and I will definitely be making it again!
★★★★★
This was so tasty made all the more special by using our home grown tomatoes and shallots. I wasn’t able to cook it for as long as I had hoped as we were in rush, however it still didn’t disappoint. We had it with tzatziki and naan bread. Only downside ……..we ate it all and there won’t be enough for me to tuck into tomorrow 🙁
Jane
★★★★★
Haha! Love it Jane!
This recipe was so delicious! My whole family loved it. Will definitely be a regular in our house. Thank you, Sylvia!
★★★★★
Out of this world (and I normally don’t like aubergines!). Our new favourite recipe. So good!
★★★★★
Great to hear!!!
Delicious … family want it as a regular meal on the menu ! Thank you Sylvia
★★★★★
Huge Yum. I’ve already made it three times in past month.
yay!!! glad you like this Betsy!
Delicious, hearty vegetarian entree! We made the ras el hanout from your previous posting and absolutely enjoyed this dish! Lots of time required in the oven, but it sure made the house smell good!
★★★★★
This was absolutely delicious. I added asparagus to the mix of veggies and they came out perfect. I also used hummus to accompany the dish because I didn’t have the tzatziki. Left overs next day went on top of my salad.
This came out perfect and was delicious ! Didn’t make the tzatziki but accompanied it with some hummus. Next day I had the leftovers on top of my salad. Will definitely keep making this dish. ( I also added some asparagus to the veggies will roasting them and it was perfect)
★★★★★
So happy you liked this!
I love eggplant and this was the perfect recipe for some farm fresh eggplant I just received. I’ve made many of your amazing recipes so I trust them, though needed to actually do this one, not just read it, to realize that it all works so well. It was brilliant with your tzatziki recipe. Plus, there is enough tzatziki left over to make the zucchini fritters. Can’t’ wait!
★★★★★
Love it – thanks Lisa!
This was outstanding! My taste buds get excited just thinking about this dish! Thank you so much! You are my go to cooking source for any kind of recipe & everything you share is beautiful. So, thank you again for sharing your talents.
★★★★★
I absolutely LOVE this recipe!! I love to eat but don’t consider myself a good cook. When I make your recipes and turn out this great I feel like a rock star! Thanks so much, another favorite I bookmarked!
★★★★★
Delicious. I added a can of drained garbanzo beans with the eggplant and used some pickled lemons. One pot meal.
Thank you for the recipe!
Goimg to try this recipe with cumin corriander , oregano and a little Chipotle in adobo or smoke paprika. Not sure yet. Lol
Top with some chopped cilantro before serving.
Garden has produced so many eggplants!
Thanks again
★★★★★
Love it!
This was delicious! I had to cobble together my own ras el hanout (had almost all the ingredients except all spice). I also used italian eggplant and added some zucchini. DELICIOUS! Will you be making a cookbook with your Moroccan recipes??? I’m eagerly waiting.
★★★★★
😉 Thanks so much, glad you liked it.
I made this for dinner this evening, it was delicious. I never change a thing on your recipes, they are perfect as written; however, I wasn’t able to put my paws on Japanese eggplant so I used traditional eggplant, sliced. It turned out great. I made it with your recipe for Naan, also excellent. I laughed because you wrote it would take making one to figure it out and that was spot on! The first one in the pan had me worried but it was smooth sailing with all the rest of it. Thanks so much for sharing all of your amazing recipes and experience. We have loved everything. I have learned to use some great spices. Thanks so very much.
Thanks Glenda- glad you gave this a go!
Made this today and both my husband and I loved it. A keeper.
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Hey Sylvia,
Firstly, love your blog!! Every time I make one of your recipes it teaches me something new!
With this recipe, would I be able to it with Indian eggplants? I have quite a few on hand.
The little green round ones? Yes, I think that should work,though have not tried. You may have to quarter them? You don’t want them more than 3/4 inch thick, or it may take longer to get soft. 😉
Could you make this in a tagine, instead of using foil over a baking dish? ALSO, if you cut the oil down will it seriously impact the dish? I love your blog!
Hi Michele, I think a tagine would work great. As for the oil, honestly, I’m not sure. I know it seems like a lot. It just turns out so well, like a confit. If you do try with less oil, will you let me know how it goes?