Grilled Eggplant Recipe

Fresh Grilled Eggplant with ricotta cheese and balsamic drizzle.  A healthy appetizer or delicious side dish that will make you want to eat your serving of vegetables! 

Over the past few months, we’ve received a few eggplants in our farm box and I intended to incorporate them into a main dish at some point but it just didn’t happen. Instead, I took the easy route and grilled the eggplant on my grill pan. Have you ever tried grilled eggplant? With just a little olive oil, salt, and pepper, it’s a perfect easy side dish.

If you want to fancy things up a bit, you need to try this Grilled Eggplant recipe with ricotta and balsamic drizzle. For just a little more effort, you can turn your grilled eggplant into a more substantial side.

I’m really good about planning homemade main dishes for my family, but I rarely focus on the side dishes. Typically we’ll have a fresh veggie, fruit, or green salad and that’s that.  An ordinary meal feels that much more special when you put a little more thought into the accompaniments.

I used homemade ricotta cheese in this Grilled Eggplant recipe. If you’ve never made homemade ricotta, I highly encourage you to do so. You won’t believe how fast and easy it is, and you likely have the necessary ingredients in your kitchen right now. So pick up some fresh eggplant on your next shopping trip and give this eggplant dish a try.

How to Prepare Eggplant

To prepare the eggplant:

1. Wash the eggplant.
2. Trim off the stem and bottom.
3. Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch thick slices
4. Brush both sides of the round slices with olive oil
5. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

How To Grill Eggplant

To Cook:

1. Preheat grill or a grill pan to medium heat.
2. Cook until eggplant just begins to soften, 3-5 minutes per side.
3. Remove from heat.

Spoon on ricotta cheese, top with parsley and balsamic drizzle (prepare as instructed in the recipe card below). Serve warm.

Grilled Eggplant Recipe

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 20 minutes mins

Fresh Grilled Eggplant with ricotta cheese and balsamic drizzle.  A healthy appetizer or delicious side dish that will make you want to eat your serving of vegetables! 

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Ingredients

• ▢ ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• ▢ 1 large eggplant (or 2 small) , sliced into ½-inch thick rounds.
• ▢ 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ▢ salt and pepper
• ▢ 1 cup ricotta cheese
• ▢ chopped fresh basil or parsley, for serving

Instructions

 

• Place balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Keep at a low boil, stirring often, until reduced by half in volume and thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, brush both sides of the eggplant rounds with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Grill the eggplant over medium heat (I used my grill pan) until it just begins to soften, 3-5 minutes per side.
• Spoon about 2 tablespoons of ricotta cheese on top of each eggplant round. Sprinkle with chopped parsley or basil and drizzle with balsamic glaze. Serve.

Notes

Serves 4 as a side dish or 6-8 as appetizer. Nutrition information calculated based on 4 servings. 

Serving: 1/4 eggplant*, Calories: 226kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 61mg, Potassium: 362mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 300IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 146mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is an estimate.

Cuisine: American

Course: Side Dish

Tried this recipe?Mention @kristines_kitchen on Instagram or tag #kristineskitchenblog.