Looking for a healthy appetizer or side dish? Spanish Marinated Eggplant and Peppers is a popular tapa that’s great as an appetizer or side dish for grilled meat. Healthy, refreshing, and the best part – you can prepare it in advance!
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Just to be clear, this dish is not pickled.
You should not store marinated eggplant for weeks, thinking the longer it stays, the better.
The longest I’ve kept it was two days. Then, I took them out of the refrigerator and served them once they were at room temperature – YUM!
IF YOU WANT MORE TRADITIONAL SPANISH RECIPES, THEN YOU WILL LOVE THESE POSTS!
Ingredients
- Eggplants – as shown in the image above, I use European eggplants for this marinated roasted eggplant.
- Bell peppers – red bell peppers.
- Garlic – minced or grated.
- Olive oil – extra virgin olive oil is excellent for this marinated eggplant recipe.
- Sherry vinegar – if you cannot find any, red wine vinegar or other sherry vinegar substitute will work.
- Mint – roughly chopped fresh mint leaves.
- Salt and pepper – just use your favorite brands.
Preparation
Start preparing your marinated eggplant by preheating the oven to 220°C (410°F to 420°F).
Place the eggplants and peppers on a baking tray and drizzle with two tablespoons of olive oil (photo 1).
Once the oven is ready, place the baking tray in the middle of it.
Turn the vegetables onto the other side after fifteen minutes.
Remove the peppers after the next ten minutes.
Keep the eggplants in the oven for another ten to fifteen minutes, then set them aside to cool.
Place the roasted bell peppers in a bowl and cover them with plastic wrap (photo 2).
Set aside for about ten minutes to continue steaming them.
Once they are cool enough to handle, start removing their skins (photo 3).
Remove the membrane and seeds as well and slice them at about a third of an inch.
Once the eggplants are safe to handle, slice them in half (photo 4).
Use a fork to remove the insides of the eggplant and transfer them into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Add the slices of bell peppers into the bowl and the minced garlic (photo 5).
Add salt, pepper, sherry vinegar, remaining olive oil, and chopped fresh mint.
Combine everything, taste, and adjust seasoning (photo 6).
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Serve your marinated eggplant and peppers at room temperature, with a drizzle of olive oil, if preferred.
Helpful tips
- Skip the covering of the peppers with plastic wrap if you think the skin is about to come off.
Instead, just give it a few minutes to cool, remove the skin, then the membrane, then chop.
- During summer, you can just grill the eggplant and peppers directly – next to your barbecue. Or you can wrap it in aluminum foil if you prefer.
Recipe variation
- Red wine vinegar. You can use red wine vinegar if you don’t have sherry vinegar on hand or try any of these sherry vinegar substitutes.
- Yellow or orange bell peppers. They can be used as a replacement, or you can even mix them with the red bell peppers.
It is not the same with green bell peppers, though — they will give you an entirely different flavor.
FAQ
As an appetizer, you should serve this marinated eggplant with bread.
My personal choice is a slightly toasted slice of baguette but try whatever works for you.
As for serving it as a side dish, it’s perfect with grilled meat, especially when there is a bit of fat in the dish.
You might think this is only a summer dish, but I beg to differ. I prepare Spanish marinated eggplant the whole year-round.
If you are like me, you’ll end up having a meal out of this tapa, with some slices of bread and a glass of wine. 🙂
📖 Recipe
Spanish Marinated Eggplant and Peppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 3 medium eggplants (or 2 large eggplants)
- 2 large bell peppers
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped roughly
- 1 tbsp sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
- salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- To start with the marinated eggplant, preheat your oven to 220°C (410°F to 420°F).
- Place the eggplants and peppers on a baking tray and pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil on them.
- Once the oven is ready, place the baking tray with the vegetables in the middle of it.
- Turn the vegetables onto the other side after 15 minutes, then remove the peppers after the next 10 minutes.
- Keep the eggplants in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes, then set them aside to cool.
- Place the roasted bell peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Set aside for about 10 minutes to continue steaming them.
- Once they are cool enough to handle, start removing their skins.
- Remove the membrane and seeds as well and slice them at about 1/3-of-an-inch.
- Once the eggplants are safe to handle, slice them in half.
- Use a fork to remove the insides of the eggplant and transfer them into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Add the slices of bell peppers to the bowl and the minced garlic.
- Add salt, pepper, sherry vinegar, remaining olive oil, and chopped fresh mint.
- Combine everything, taste, and adjust seasoning.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Serve your marinated eggplant and peppers at room temperature, with a drizzle of more olive oil, if desired.
Notes
- Cook’s Tip #1: Skip the covering of the peppers with plastic wrap if you think the skin is about to come off. Just give it a few minutes to cool, remove the skin, then the membrane, then chop.
- Cook’s Tip #2: In the summertime, you can just grill the eggplant and peppers directly – next to your barbecue. Or you can wrap it in aluminum foil if you prefer.
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