Eggplant Preserved in Olive Oil - Melanzane Sott'Olio

This time of year production in vegetable gardens is starting to wind down so if you haven't made plans for preserving some of your veggies, to enjoy later in the year, it's important to figure it out now. Pickled eggplant packed in olive oil with garlic and herbs is a great way to preserve garden grown (or store bought) eggplant. In southern Italy this is the primary way to preserve their beloved eggplant and is called melanzane sott'olio - literally, "eggplant under oil". Maybe you grew up with this, maybe you've had this as part of an antipasti assortment or sadly, maybe you've never heard of it... if you haven't, you can start now. You won't be sorry. 

Like a lot of "traditional" dishes, there are local variations and of course variations within families - different procedure preferences, different varieties of eggplant, different seasonings, different ways to slice, but common to all are a couple of easy, but important, steps you need to follow. The photos below lay this out. But here they are - 
  
1 - Sliced pieces or strips of eggplant are salted to draw out the moisture. This liquid needs to be squeezed out.
2 - Cook the eggplant pieces briefly in wine vinegar, and then squeeze out the excess vinegar.
3 - Add in the seasonings while layering the eggplant slices in a canning jar.  
4 - Let the flavors marry together for several weeks - or more. It gets better over time.
                              
I used these eggplants are from our garden - three Japanese eggplants and one black beauty.

Peel the eggplants and cut into strips. You could cut into thin slices crosswise or lengthwise but I prefer the strips.

Put the eggplant strips in a glass or ceramic bowl and add - for this amount of eggplant - about 1/3 cup Kosher salt. Mix through with your hands and let sit for 3 - 4 hours.The salt will pull much of the water out of the eggplant and make the pieces very pliable. In the bottom of the bowl there should be a pool of brown liquid. 

Drain the liquid and squeeze rest of the water out of the eggplant with your hands or put the eggplant in a colander with a weight on top or if you have a potato ricer, use it to squeeze out the rest of the liquid, like this - 

Pour white wine vinegar in a pot and bring to a boil. For the amount of eggplant I had, I used 2 1/2 cups.The amount of vinegar should be enough to cover the eggplant. Add the eggplant slices and cook for 3 minutes.Take off the heat and drain. Let cool. Then, using the same method as before, squeeze any excess vinegar out and put the eggplant slices in a bowl.

For the seasoning, I like to use minced garlic, sliced hot Calabrese pepper and fennel seeds. Some people like other herbs like basil or mint instead of fennel. Use what you personally like. Typically garlic and hot peppers are the two main seasonings.

Garlic - minced

Fennel seeds. These we grew, but use store bought fennel seeds

Hot Calabrese pepper. We grow these too, but you can use store bought chilies. Slice these into thin rings.

Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a caning jar and sprinkle a little garlic, sliced hot pepper and fennel seeds. Add enough eggplant to fill about 1/4 of the jar, Then repeat the seasonings and eggplant, 1/4 at a time until the jar is 3/4 full. Pressing firmly as you go to remove any air spaces. Finish by adding a  thin layer of olive oil., 

Put the lid and ring on the jar and refrigerate for about a week or two for the eggplant to absorb the flavors of the seasonings - if you can wait that long. Keep refrigerated but bring to room temperature to serve. Kept refrigerated, this will keep for six months. 

Clay figurine from Calabria, Italy, looking over one of the jars with discerning approval.