We recently prepared a side dish consisting of grilled eggplant with shredded basil and the result was very good, however we wanted to intensify the dish a bit and, in turn, altered the eggplant variety and topping. The end result was a grilled Sicilian, variety, eggplant and pesto feta recipe that elevated ordinary eggplant into a super contorno (or side dish).
Grilled Sicilian Eggplant with a Pesto Feta Sauce
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Recipe type: Side Dish
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 2-3 medium sized "Sicilian" eggplant
- 1 cup of basil (finely minced)
- 1 cup of parsley (finely minced)
- 2 cloves of garlic (finely minced)
- 3-4 tablespoons of low salt French feta
- ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
Process
- Cut the eggplant into ½ inch discs and brush both sides with olive oil. Next, season both sides with liberal amounts of freshly ground black pepper and Kosher salt. Preheat your outdoor grill and bring grilling the eggplant. I like to place the grill lid on my BBQ unit and let the eggplant “bake” for 3-5 minutes (depending on the strength of your fire). Flip the eggplant and repeat the process for the uncooked side. When grilling eggplant outdoors you’re trying to find that happy medium between a nicely charred exterior and wonderfully soft and tender interior.
- For the pesto feta sauce, combine ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, basil, parsley, garlic, and feta cheese in a bowl and mix well (I like to use a fork to "whip" the ingredients).
- Spoon the mixture onto each individual eggplant slice.
Notes
For a slightly more complicated pesto sauce recipe, please see our standard pesto recipe
This sounds fantastic. I can’t wait to try it!