Sunday, June 03, 2007

Eggplant crisps

Sometimes, a recipe calls for peeled eggplants which leaves you with a pile of eggplant peels. One easy way to put what would otherwise go to waste is to make eggplant crisps. They can be eaten as is or used as garnish. I generally tend to prefer this last option for the stunning crispy darkness these crisps can provide to almost any dish.



The process is very simple.

1) Cut the peels in fine strips (I tried slices and it does not look as good)
2) Add a little bit of oil (I like olive oil)
3) Bake in the oven until crispy but not burnt (time varies according to the thickness of the peels)



This can be done at different oven temperatures which allows you to make them as something else is cooking. It generally takes only a few minutes but you should always keep an eye on them as thin vegetables tend to burn quite fast.


If you like eggplant caviar or baba gannouj, preserve the skin to make these crisps. They are great with fish.

9 comments:

Freya said...

I'm always looking out for new ways to prepare eggplant (aubergine as we call it) and if it involves deep frying, I'm happy!

MagicTofu said...

Thanks for visiting Freya and Paul. Just to clarify a detail here: these are not deep fried but baked... but I am sure you can achieve similar result with hot oil.

Mélanie said...

I love the idea!
A nice way to use the skin.
:)

Thistlemoon said...

Thanks for suggesting that over on my blog. They look beautiful!

Anonymous said...

I also remember that magictofu had used the eggplant skin on pasta as a decoration. If I remembered it right, he flavoured the eggplant skin( with a bit of the flesh from the eggplant, cut in about 1 cm each) and then grilled them. The look of the grilled eggplant skin over the pasta was awesome and the taste was great.

Julie said...

Terrific idea, I use eggplant every week.

Anonymous said...

I love this idea...I'll be sure to give it a try next time I use eggplant! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi MagicTofu!

Love the idea - I'm looking for an interesting eggplant recipe that I can prepare a day ahead and serve at room temperature. Do these beautiful looking little eggplant crisps stay crispy if you make them a day ahead?

Thanks :o)
Kate

MagicTofu said...

They do stay crispy for a few days in an air tight container but probably not much longer.