This dish takes some time to cook – 2 1/2 hours in the oven, or all day in a crock pot – but is pretty easy to assemble. The advantage of slow-cooking is that the delicate eggplant softens to melt in your mouth, and you don’t have to worry about last-minute kitchen management before supper.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 1 pound eggplant
- coarse salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1 large green frying pepper
- 2 1/2 teaspoons chopped long green chili
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic
- 2 cups canned tomatoes with juice
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Drain the chickpeas after soaking overnight. Place in a saucepan, add fresh water to cover, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, over low heat until half-cooked, about 45 minutes. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, peel the eggplant and cut into 1-inch cubes. Sprinkle lightly with the coarse salt and let stand in a colander to draw off excess moisture, about 45 minutes. Set aside.
- Chop the onions. Chop both the large pepper and small chili into small pieces. Peel and crush the garlic with pinch of salt. I used a mortar and pestle for this.
- Preheat the oven to 300F (if baking instead of using a crock pot).
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet. Add the onions, frying pepper, and chili. Stir 3 minutes.
- Add the eggplant and saute without browning it, 2 more minutes. Add the garlic, tomatoes with juice, parsley, oregano, and 1 teaspoon coarse salt. Cook at a simmer 10 minutes, stirring often.
- In a 4-quart oven-proof cast iron pot, bean pot, clay casserole, or crock pot, mix the chickpeas, 1 3/4 cups of their cooking liquid, the bay leaf, and the contents of the skillet.
- Cover and bake in the oven 2 1/2 hours, or alternatively all day in the crock pot. The aroma will be extremely fragrant, and the chickpeas very tender.
- Remove the lid and bake 10 minutes more to allow excess moisture to evaporate.
- Serve with dense, chewy bread or rice pilaf.