harissa-roasted eggplant with crispy capers

I’m always trying to find recipes that “spice up” eggplant (pun intended). This harissa-roasted version is certainly a show-stopper by bringing loads of spice and a variety of flavors. If you love eggplant, great, drop right down to the recipe and make this right now. If you’re apprehensive about the veggie or an all-out hater, this recipe may just be the one that changes your mind.

what you'll need

Besides a few beautiful eggplants, you’ll just need a few easy ingredients to create your toppers which will smother the roasted eggplants to perfection.

Garlic, harissa paste, capers, and cherry preserves These four ingredients bring an amalgam of different flavors to the sauce. The harissa paste brings the heat, while the capers add some tanginess, and the cherry preserves, which are mixed in at the end, provide some sour-y sweetness.

Lemon and yogurt This light and dreamy sauce serves as the perfect complement to the spicy and briny harissa-caper combo.

Fresh dill and roasted capers After roasting, the capers become crispy, adding a much-needed crunch to the saucy eggplants, while the dill rounds out the flavor profile and looks stunning when served.

⟶ the recipe

harissa-roasted eggplant with crispy capers

ingredients

6 cloves of garlic

⅓ cup harissa paste

6 tablespoons drained capers

¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 medium eggplants, halved lengthwise

2 tablespoons cherry preserves

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

Salt and pepper

Prep time

20 minutes

Cook time

25 minutes

Total time

45 minutes

4 servings

instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Place garlic, harissa, olive oil, and 4 tablespoons of the capers in a food processor or blender, and bland until a runny paste forms. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer paste to a bowl and set aside.

Score crosshatches along the cut side of the eggplant (but don’t cut through the skin). Brush some of the paste over each cut side of eggplant.

Toss the remaining capers and some additional olive oil in a small bowl until they are coated. Arrange eggplant, cut side up, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. On one side of the baking sheet, next to the eggplant, arrange capers in a single layer.

Roast eggplant and capers for about 8 minutes, or until capers are sizzling and crispy. Remove baking sheet from the oven and transfer back to the small bowl.

Return eggplant to the oven and continue to roast until tender, about 12 more minutes. Remove eggplant and allow to cool slightly before cutting each half into another half diagonally.

Mix cherry preserves into the reserved paste. Mix yogurt and lemon juice in another small bowl until combined. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, spoon yogurt sauce atop the eggplant and drizzle with harissa-cherry sauce. Top with roasted capers, dill, and lemon zest.