The Best Eggplant Doesn’t Require a Recipe (But I Still Wrote It Down for You)
Dan Pelosi's whole-roasted eggplant is the best way to cook it. It also happens to be the easiest.
I have to give credit to my dear friend Andy Baraghani for teaching me how to roast a whole eggplant. A lot of my life was spent slicing, dicing, roasting, and frying eggplant—and until Andy mentioned it, I’d never thought to just throw the whole thing in the oven and let it do its thing.
The creamy, dreamy insides ... I will honestly never recover from that first bite. To improve on the real-life fantasy, which doesn’t even need improvement, a little Greek yogurt and chili crisp enhance all the already-beautiful texture and flavor of the veg. A great payoff for very little work!
Preheat the oven to 350°F:
Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
Roast the eggplant:
Wash the eggplant, then pat the skin dry completely. Place the eggplant on the prepared sheet pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the skin is wrinkly and the eggplant is extremely soft. Remove from the oven, cover with a clean kitchen towel, and let steam for 15 minutes. (This facial makes the insides extra soft and delicious.)
Make the topping:
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and chili crisp.
Top and serve:
Transfer the whole eggplant to a serving platter (or don’t). Slice it lengthwise, leaving the stem intact and taking care not cut all the way through. Use tongs to pry it open, then spoon the chili-yogurt mixture all over its flesh. Spoon a little more of the crisp over everything and serve.
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