23 italian eggplant recipes

Eggplant custard gratin with fried eggplant, tomato sauce, basil, and a ricotta-parmesan custard. French-Italian baked side or vegetarian main.

Fried Italian eggplant simmered in a spiced yogurt sauce with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, turmeric, and cayenne. A rich Bengali eggplant dish (begun kalia) served with rice or naan.

Spaghettini topped with breaded and fried eggplant strips, tomato sauce, and grated Parmesan. A crispy Italian-style pasta dish with salt-pressed eggplant for zero bitterness.

Mediterranean lasagna layers tender pasta with eggplant in tomato sauce and a creamy mix of ricotta, feta, and yogurt. A vegetarian Greek-Italian fusion lasagna without ground meat or heavy bechamel.

Polenta pie sets a rosemary corn polenta crust in a springform pan, then layers grilled squash, eggplant, and roasted peppers inside. A vegetarian Italian showpiece, served chilled.

Hearty Italian minestrone packed with beans, eggplant, zucchini, spinach, cabbage, and pasta, topped with a bright homemade basil pesto. A one-pot vegetable soup that eats like a meal.

A vegetable-loaded Italian minestrone with eggplant, beans, spinach, cabbage, and pasta, finished with a swirl of homemade pesto alla Genovese. Rustic, hearty, and full of garden-fresh flavor.