crostini with grilled eggplant and pine nut puree

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eggplant mint pine nuts grilled vegetables toast toppings

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I am so excited that we can buy eggplants at the Farmers’ Market! They are so fresh and sweet—I have so much fun making yummy eggplant things! This spread is really great on Rise & Shine Bakery’s 100% whole wheat sourdough bread. It’s a variation of a recipe in Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors. I love this for dinner alongside a big pile of roasted broccoli with garlic, or any of the broccoli dishes you’ll find on this web site.

1 pound eggplant or a little more
olive oil
sea salt or kosher salt
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 garlic clove
freshly ground pepper
fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped mint
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
slices of bread, toasted

1. Preheat your grill to medium heat. Peel the eggplants and slice them into rounds about ½” thick. Set the slices on a sheet pan for applying the oil. Brush or spray both sides of each slice lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt. Grill directly on the grill (not in the pan) over medium heat for at least 5 minutes on each side. They should have grill marks and start to get golden-brown. When done, stack the slices and wrap in aluminum foil so that they’ll steam and finish cooking. (This is a grilling method that Dan developed, and it works wonderfully for red onions, as well.)
2. Toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet over low heat until golden. Then toss them into the bowl of a food processor with the garlic and ½ teaspoon of salt. Process them until finely ground. Coarsely chop the eggplant, then put it in with the pine nuts and pulse it into a somewhat rough puree. Add a little lemon juice to sharpen the flavors, taste for salt, season with pepper, and stir in the herbs. Spread the puree on toast and enjoy!