It’s eggplant season!  If you aren’t fond of this large oblong purple vegetable with a bitter taste, know that much of its enjoyment depends on the way it is prepared. Where I come from in the south of france, eggplant is always paired with garlic and/or fresh herbs, and with other sunny vegetables like peppers and tomatoes, and of course the best extra virgin olive oils.

This delicious recipe is a classic from the “sun-kissed region of provence “, a favorite summer comfort food, a perfect side dish or appetizer.

The most famous way to sublime the taste of eggplant is to pair it with a lot of garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Most people grill it, even to make a dip. I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to. You can make an eggplant caviar in a much shorter time, 15 minutes, by steaming it. Besides the health advantages ( cleansing steam + nutrient preservation), you get to taste the eggplant’s full taste potential. I will let you judge for yourself!

One of the Most Famous French Eggplant Recipes

Do you love eggplants? There are many many way to make eggplant taste wonderful, the most famous one is with a lot of garlic and extra virgin olive oil. Serve it spread on a piece of old, toasted baguette with a drizzle of oil or if you have it, a drizzle of pesto. You can also dip slices of red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, raw and fermented ! Besides eating healthy, even fatty (healthy fats!) appetizer with raw vegetables have a marked advantage to lower the rise of blood sugar during the meal.

Even if the look of the dip may not be the most inspiring, on account of the brown-colored flesh of eggplant, it does not lack taste!  

Tip: Pairs well with salty cheeses like parmesan or Pecorino Romano.

Grill it or steam it!

Most people grill eggplant, even to make a dip. I’m here to tell you, you don’t need to. You can make an eggplant caviar in a much shorter time, 15 minutes, by steaming it. Because of steaming, my recipe is a little different than the popular recipe. But it is only tastier for it! Besides the health advantages ( cleansing steam + nutrient preservation), you get to taste the eggplant’s full taste potential. I will let you judge for yourself! First time making it? You will love it!

A French Classic, The Steamed Cuisine Way

Many of my recipes are my own. Many are also modified versions of my country’s culinary culture, or should I say treasure box.

Eggplant dip, or French aubergine caviar, is one of these. But traditionally, we make aubergine caviar with roasted aubergines. And don’t get me wrong, it’s yummy! But when upon this recipe’s creation, France didn’t know much about steam cooking and no one had tried it with a steam cooker – that I know of.

Ingredients of the Best eggplant dip recipe

• Fresh garlic clove will give it its ost marked delicious taste
• Dash of Balsamic vinegar for finish or lemon juice;
• Optional : Fresh thyme or a pinch of organic dried thyme;
• Deep small bowl or large bowl to blend ;
• Teaspoon salt;
• Black pepper;
• No need of chunky tomato sauce or store-bought tomato sauce. I personally prefer fresh tomato. Don’t open a jar for a teaspoon!
• Fresh basil: A few basil leaves for deco;
• A good olive oil Personally I prefer Extra virgin olive oils : they have a stronger taste that improves absolutely anything.

A few simple steps and your Aubergine dip is Ready in 15 minutes, all in!

Steam the eggplant

Try my fuss-free recipe. Heat food steamer with 1 qt water on high heat, once steaming lower to medium heat.

First, you do not need to roast the aubergine 25 whole minutes and burn its skin. Burning the skin serves no purpose: we peel the skin off to make this dip. In a mere 10 minutes the eggplant is soft enough to be used in the dish and easy to peel.

Steam the Onion

No need to Sauté the onion and garlic 10 minutes either ! In 3 minutes in the steamer, the onion was soft enough to finish sauté in the pan with garlic ( at low heat) with one slice of fresh tomato, and extra virgin olive oil – without burning the oil.

Then it took blending eggplant, oil, salt and pepper, and onion and garlic mix together in a food processor. And that was it. Leaving the container in the fridge overnight hits the sweet spot: this is a necessary step for all flavors to come out.

And it tastes wonderful. Next thing I will have to try is Baba Ganousch!

What do i serve it with?

The Traditional Way

Eggplant caviar is a dip, you can use it as such ! My kids love to use as a tartine, spread on mini slices of baguette like bruschetta, which is the traditional way of eating it. Sprinkle some cut parsley or basil on top, a bit more olive oil, done. If you are gluten sensitive, that works very well on gluten free crackers too!

Throw Sticks into it

You can dip carrots in it ( fermented carrots taste great in it !), cucumber sticks, slices of radish. Strong tastes go particularly well with it.

Make it fun : Spoon Feed it !

Even better, cut some tomatoes in slices and spread a layer of eggplant dip on top, eat with a soup spoon! You can line up all your soup spoons in a row, lay a tomato slice at the bottom, spread eggplant caviar on top of the tomato, sprinkle with sesame, add a bit of olive oil. Let each kid take a spoon, and make them eat all at the same time ! So it again at will!

Pasta Sauce

You can use it as pasta sauce, too! To go with it, I would steam + sauté some mushrooms and shallots, throw into the dish with raw mini tomatoes and some fresh arugula. I would then grate some sheep cheese (Manchego or Pecorino Romano) on top, and/or sprinkle some shaved almond on top.

Pasta Sauce

You can use it as pasta sauce, too! To go with it, I would steam + sauté some mushrooms and shallots, throw into the dish with raw mini tomatoes and some fresh arugula. I would then grate some sheep cheese (Manchego or Pecorino Romano) on top, and/or sprinkle some shaved almond on top.

Last but not least; don’t worry about the fats!

I’m not a doctor nor your doctor nor your health coach, but doctors say it: Don’t worry about fats! In one bowl, this recipes contains perhaps 3 tbsp of olive oil. On my plate, I add more, because the taste is just even better. The oil is not heated ( or only at lowest heat possible), so it does retain his nutrient density.

This recipe is specifically made with healthy ingredients. The oil is not heated ( or only at lowest heat possible), so it does retain his nutrient density. Moreover, a good extra virgin olive oil is healthy for you, for your brain ! If you don’t believe me, check out Dr Mark Hyman’s book, Eat Fat, Get Thin. If there anythiong in this recipe you may want to avoid, that’s probably the baguette !

Bon appétit!

Other Recipes You May Like

• Looking for another typical southern French recipe: try hummus ! or a fun twist on hummus, in pink color!
• A Dip? Try the Parsley Apple Olive oil Veggie dip or, on a spicier side, Spicy Pepper and Feta Dip
• Kid friendly entrees with steamed rice: Fried Rice, Steamed Cuisine Style, or Pineapple Chicken over Basmati Rice
• Entree salads work great as the weather warm up and pool season starts! Mediterranean Rice and Tuna Salad and Kale & Quinoa Lemony Goodness salad
• A treat? Get the ones to go like Orange & Almond Steamed Bites or Chocolate Hazelnuts Einkorn Steamed Bites !

I plan to share steamed recipes of:

• Eggplant tian with tender slices of eggplants – layers of eggplant slices
• Provencal eggplant tomato gratin

Whatever you chose,

Bon appétit!