Russian-Style Aubergines

I got this recipe out of a Romanian cookbook that was given to me, and as usual, I was looking for a new way to cook what I already had in the house. In Romanian, this is called Mincare de Vinete Preparata Ruseste (with various accent-type marks that I don't know how to duplicate on Blogger).

Warm, mushy veggies
Satisfying and tasty
In these winter months

Ingredients:

• 3 aubergines (eggplant)
• salt
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 4 Tbsp Olive oil
• 1 carrot
• 3 large potatoes
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 lb. tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 tbsp chopped dill
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Pepper

1. Cut the tops off the aubergines and slice them into circles 3/4 inches wide. Sprinkle the slices with salt and leave 1 hour.
2. Next, squeeze out all the water in the slices and dry them well with paper towels. Flour the slices on both sides.
3. Fry in oil over high heat, 3 minutes per side until golden. You will have to do this in stages - remove already fried eggplant slices to a plate while you continue frying the rest.
4. While the eggplant slices are being fried, thinly slice the potatoes, carrot and celery.
5. Remove the fried eggplant slices to a plate and with the remaining oil (I found that I had to use a little more than this recipe called for), cook the vegetables, over medium heat for 15 minutes, until all the vegetables soften.
6. While the vegetables are cooking, let the dog out, make some tea, and slice the tomatoes. Arrange, in a baking dish, a layer of sliced tomatoes. Top with a layer of eggplant and a bit of the garlic.
7. Once the vegetables are ready, top the eggplant-tomato dish with some of the vegetables. Continue layering in this way until you are out of eggplant and vegetables. Top with one last layer of tomatoes.
8. Mix the tomato sauce with the dill, parsley, sugar, more garlic, more salt, and pepper. Pour over the vegetables.
9. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes and serve hot.

I only had one eggplant, so I only used one potato. And a third of everything else that could be divided. I found this recipe took some time since the eggplant slices had to be fried in shifts. This would be delicious with a dollop of sour cream (or plain yogurt for the more health-conscious) or maybe some crumbled goat cheese on top.

Recipe from The Art of Romanian Cooking by Galia Sperber.
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