I originally shared a post on roasted eggplant in January 2012 and wanted to update and repost because this is an easy recipe anyone can follow and as a bonus requires very little in the way of clean up.
Roasted eggplant is extremely flavorful and a healthy snack that is full of vitamins, minerals and fiber. I like to purée roasted eggplant and portobelo mushrooms to use as the base for my vegetarian red sauce. To roast eggplant you’ll need an eggplant (obviously) but you’ll also need garlic, about 1/3 of a cup of olive oil as well as basil, salt and thyme.
Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Then cut the eggplant in half and score it with deep cuts, but don’t pierce the skin. Add 1 tbsp of salt into the cuts and let the eggplant rest for 20 minutes. The salt will cause the eggplant to sweat (as shown in photo above). Squeeze the eggplant to release the excess water to remove the bitter taste and help with roasting.
Combine 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil and a couple pinches of thyme for flavoring and brush the eggplant liberally; then brush the garlic cloves and embed them into the scoring marks (use as many as you like).
Flip the brushed eggplant face down on a tray lined with parchment paper. I like to also place a few basil leaves between the parchment and eggplant. Place this into the oven for 45 minutes then take out and let cool for 15 minutes.
BosGuy 
