Aubergine in between

Photos by Bryant Anderson

There are sandwiches, dips and pizza; it could be used as a substitute for meat, as with eggplant parmesan or in pasta sauce.

Eggplant is commonly eaten as a vegetable, even though it’s a fruit. It’s native to India and can be found in Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and European cuisines, such as moussaka, baba ghanoush and ratatouille.

Ocean Air Farms sells eggplant at the Wednesday and Saturday farmers markets.

Chef Devon Morgante, an owner of Vita Cucina, prepared an eggplant sandwich with roasted red pepper, onions, feta cheese and a garlic aioli sauce.

“It’s a nice veggie sandwich,” said Chef Michelle Morgante, also an owner of Vita Cucina.

All the components gave the sandwich a Mediterranean feel, with roasted red pepper, balsamic vinegar, feta, a hint of garlic and the exotic musk of eggplant giving it some heft.

Devon Morgante first stripped off some of an eggplant’s thick skin and sliced it lengthwise.

“It can be tough,” Morgante said of an eggplant’s skin.

He noted that the sweetest part of an eggplant is at the top right under the stem.

Morgante said that some recipes call for eggplant to be salted to remove some of the moisture and bitter taste, but that’s only for older eggplant.

“There’s no need if it’s fresh from the market,” he said.

Morgante roasted a red pepper on the stovetop until it was completely charred. He put it in a container covered with plastic wrap for a few minutes to steam it and therefore easily remove the skin.

Rings of red onions were marinated in balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper.

The eggplant was also doused in balsamic vinegar before being roasted in the oven with the onion slices.

While the meat of the sandwich roasted in the oven, Morgante prepared whole garlic cloves in a sauté pan before puréeing them in a food processer with mayonnaise to make an aioli sauce.

Aioli is a thick creamy French sauce that is often found on crab cakes. It can be made quickly with mayonnaise or slowly with its traditional components of garlic, olive oil, and egg.

Morgante sliced a hunk of ciabatta bread. He slathered the bread with the aioli, topped it with the slices of eggplant, red pepper, onion and crumbled feta and toasted it open-faced in the oven. Pesto could be added to the sandwich, he said.

There are lots of options to cook with eggplant and it’s available in abundance as the end of the harvest nears.

Morgante’s suggestion is to “try it and experiment out.”