Simple Russian Eggplant ‘Caviar’ With Walnuts

Russian eggplant caviar or ‘baklazhannaya ikra’ in Russian, is of course no relation at all to actual caviar. This stuff was created in Russia in the sixties and was given the name of caviar, we can only assume to make it more appealing to the Russian palate.

All that aside, this dish is a fantastic way of making the best of eggplant when it is in season.

Use your eggplant caviar on pasta, on bruschetta, as a dip or in a salad. You can store your ‘caviar’ in jars in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Monferrato pesto with ricotta

Ingredients

• 2 medium to large eggplant
• 1 shallot
• 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 8 walnuts
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium chilli pepper (optional)

Preparation

1. Wash and dry the eggplant.
2. Leave them whole but pierce them with a fork in two or three places and put them in the oven at 430/220°C for half an hour until the skin is toasted.
3. Let them cool down and then cut them in half lengthwise and dig out the pulp with a spoon.
4. Put the pulp in a bowl and chop it together with the shallot, parsley, lemon juice and coarsely chopped walnuts.
5. Then add a little oil, a pinch of salt and, if you like, the chilli pepper.