Slow Roasted Eggplant with Garlicky Walnuts and Shrimp
Custardy and unbelievably soft, these slow-roasted eggplant are literally fall-apart tender and make the coziest beds for some crunchy, garlicky walnuts and juicy roasted shrimp. A great light meal or, to add more heft, serve with some Israeli couscous on the side.
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 eggplants, halved lengthwise (just regular eggplants are fine – nothing fancy)
- Olive oil, as needed
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/3 cup tomato paste, optional
- 1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1.5 cups walnuts, roughly chopped, salted if you can find them that way
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
- 1 cup full-fat plain Greek yogurt or labneh
- 1 heaping cup fresh arugula, or as needed
- 1 lemon
- Flaky sea salt, to finish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Adjust one rack to the middle position, and the other to the upper/top third position. Cover two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a small knife, make about four ½-inch deep incisions across each eggplant’s flesh – you can do this straight across, diagonally, even cross-hatch. Anything goes! Drizzle each cut side of the eggplant with a few tablespoons of olive oil (it will really drink it up) and season very well with salt and pepper. If desired, rub a tablespoon or so of tomato paste onto the cut sides of the eggplant (this will caramelize in a most dramatic, menacing way, essentially blackening the surface of the eggplant).Â
- Place the eggplant halves flesh side down on one of the baking sheets and roast, undisturbed, for about 40 to 45 minutes. They will be super tender and almost starting to totally collapse at this point.Â
- Meanwhile, put the shrimp on the second baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. If you like, you can add a tablespoon of the tomato paste and toss the shrimp with that as well – up to you! Roast for the last 6.5 to 7 minutes of the eggplant’s cook time, on the upper rack (No longer! Maybe less!) or until just cooked.Â
- Put the walnuts in a dry skillet set over medium heat. Let them toast for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. When you smell them, they’re ready. Turn off the heat and add about ¼ cup olive oil to the nuts, along with the zest of the lemon and the garlic. If your nuts were not salted, season the mixture generously with salt. Stir to blend.
- To serve, spread the yogurt on the bottom of a big platter or plate. Alternatively, you can divide this between 4 individual plates. Plate the eggplants next, right over the yogurt, and spoon the garlicky, lemony walnuts and their oil all over them. Scatter with fresh arugula – as much as you like – and cut/squeeze the lemon over top. Finish with flaky sea salt.Â