Eggplant Saganaki features pan-fried eggplant cooked in a rich tomato sauce with smoky paprika, creamy feta, and melted kefalotyri cheese. As the eggplant stews, it turns soft and mellow, and the sauce turns into a creamy, cheesy, melting goodness!
If you love comforting Greek food, this Eggplant Saganaki, or Melitzanes Saganaki in Greek, is a recipe you need to try.
Table Of Contents
Thick slices of eggplant are pan-fried until golden, then gently finished in a rich, tomato sauce loaded with onions, garlic, and smoky paprika.
The final touch is generous chunks of creamy feta cheese and plenty of grated kefalotyri, melting into the sauce.
The result is a rustic, comforting dish perfect for bread dipping!
What Is Saganaki?
Saganaki refers to dishes traditionally cooked and/or served in an oven-proof, two-handled dish called a saganaki. The most popular Greek Saganaki is made with a semi-hard cheese that is deep-fried.
There's also Fried Feta Cheese Saganaki. Also, dishes cooked in tomato sauce with plenty of cheese are called Saganaki. Such as Shrimp Saganaki (which is very popular in Greek Tavernas, aka traditional restaurants). And many more like this Eggplant Saganaki.
Choosing the Best Eggplant
Look for firm, glossy eggplants that feel heavy for their size. For this recipe, any variety will work as long as they're cut into thick slices. To hold their shape as they finish cooking in the tomato sauce.
You want the eggplant to become tender and silky without completely falling apart.
How to Make Eggplant Saganaki
Begin by making the sauce. First, we make the sauce so it has time to become rich and thickened until we finish pan-frying the eggplant.
To make the sauce, sauté plenty of onion and garlic. Next, add crushed tomatoes, water or vegetable stock, smoked paprika, and a bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper.
Allow the sauce to reduce and thicken. But don't let it get too thick, as we're going to cook the eggplant in it as well.
Prepare and pan-fry the eggplant. Cut the eggplants into thick, generous slices. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the eggplant in batches until golden brown on both sides.
Don’t overcrowd the pan. Give each slice enough space to develop a beautiful golden exterior. The point here isn't to soften the eggplant all the way through. Just to soften and roast it on the outside.
Stew the eggplant in the sauce. Add the golden pan-fried eggplant slices to the tomato sauce.
Cook until the eggplant is completely tender and the sauce has thickened beautifully around it.
Add the feta, Kefalotyri, dried oregano, and parsley. Stir carefully and let it sit on the hot stove with the heat turned off for 2 minutes. We want the cheese to soften and melt (but not dissapear) into the sauce.
Pan-Frying Eggplant
To pan-fry the eggplant, use a good amount of olive oil. Coat the bottom of a frying pan with a thick layer of oil. Once the eggplant goes in the pan, it will absorb it all. Allow it to turn golden brown, then flip the slices. Once the eggplant cooks and softens, it will start releasing some of the oil.
Before cooking the next batch of sliced eggplant, coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil again. Eggplant loves olive oil and gets super flavorful the more you add (up to a point, of course).
Skipping The Pan Frying
You can skip the pan-frying and deep-fry all the slices in a deep-fryer if it's easier for you. Not the ideal way of making this dish, but it works!
If you want a healthier version, you can roast the eggplant in the oven. Cut into slices, arrange in a pan, brush generously with olive oil, and roast until golden brown.
Tips
- Don’t slice the eggplant too thin. Thin eggplant slices can become too soft and disappear into the sauce. Thick pieces give the dish body and texture.
- Pan-fry until golden. Don’t rush the frying stage. Golden eggplant brings extra flavor to the finished dish.
- Be generous with the oil. Eggplant absorbs oil like a sponge. Add a thick layer to coat the bottom of the frying pan.
- Use good-quality feta. It's the star of this recipe.
- Add the feta and kefalotyri at the end. We want the cheese to melt beautifully into the sauce without completely disappearing.
- Remove bitterness. You can soak the cut eggplant in plenty of cold water for up to 30 minutes to remove bitterness. Make sure to dry well before pan-frying.
Best Cheese To Use
The best cheese to use in this Eggplant stew with tomato is feta cheese. It melts beautifully and has a strong salty flavor to contrast the sweetness of the tomato and eggplant. The same goes for Kefalotyri. Kefalotyri cheese is a hard, ripe, and salty Greek cheese used a lot in these types of dishes, and on pasta.
Some Kefalotyri alternatives are Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, or Romano cheese. Or you can skip it altogether and add only feta cheese.
Serve With
This saucy eggplant with feta is traditionally served with lots of bread for dipping into the delicious sauce. It's served more like an appetizer in Greece. Think of it like a warm dip with large chunks of melting eggplant and cheese.
However, it can also be a delicious main dish, served over rice, orzo, or penne. Or even with potato fries.
Recipe
Eggplant Saganaki
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds) eggplants
- 200 grams (1 large) onion minced
- 4-5 large garlic cloves chopped
- 500 grams (2 cups) crushed tomatoes
- ⅔ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley minced
- 150 grams (5.3 ounces) feta cheese crumbled into large chunks
- 50 grams (7 tablespoons) grated Kefalotyri cheese see the text above for substitution
- 500 ml (2 cups) hot water or vegetable stock
- olive oil
Instructions
- Heat a splash of olive oil in a cooking pot over moderate heat.
- Saute the onion and garlic until golden.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes, the hot water or stock, the bay leaf, smoked paprika, and season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer the sauce partly covered over moderate heat until thickened. Meanwhile, prepare the eggplant.
- Slice off the tops and bottoms of the eggplant. Cut it in half and then into 2½-3 cm (1-1¼ inch) thick slices.
- Generously coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil. Heat over high heat.
- Pan-fry the eggplant slices until deep golden, lightly browned on each side. Only the outer part should soften because the eggplant will cook in the sauce as well. NOTE: Pan-fry in batches, adding more oil before cooking the next batch as necessary. Eggplant soaks oil like a sponge.
- Add the pan-fried eggplant to the cooking pot with the thickened sauce.
- Cook covered, over moderate heat for about 20 minutes until the eggplant softens. If necessary, add a splash of water.
- Stir in the dried oregano, parsley, feta, and Kefalotyri cheese. Turn off the heat and leave the pot on the hot stove for a minute or two until both cheeses soften and melt.
- Serve warm with plenty of crusty bread for dipping.
Leave a Reply