Kapema

Alison Negrin's "eggplant meltdown" recipe. Super simple to make, and very tasty. I first read about it in the Fall 2022 edition of Edible East Bay and slightly modified the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 large globe eggplant
• 4 large, very ripe tomatoes, chopped or sliced
• Paprika or pimenton
• Oregano
• Olive oil

Recipe

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Slice eggplant. Microwave until tender, about five minutes.
• Lay eggplant on bottom of oiled baking dish. Cover with tomatoes, pimenton, oregano. Pour more olive oil on top.
• Bake for about 2 hours, until the oil bubbles to the top and the eggplant becomes caramelized.

History

August 24, 2022

Made it for the first time. Super easy and a definite winner. The original recipe called for steaming the eggplant for 20-25 minutes. I replaced that by microwaving. I want to try without steaming at all. I also left the salt out, and it didn't need it — surprising, since I definitely like my salt.

I thought about adding onions, but again, it didn't need them, and I actually think they might have taken away from the simplicity of this dish. I could imagine adding caponato-style ingredients, but simple is great.

I left it in the warm oven after two hours, and it got a little burnt. It was still tasty, but need to watch out for that next time.

I ate this as a side to skirt steak, and it was awesome. Would have been great over capellini.