Roasted eggplant with burrata and chili oil

Name: Roasted eggplant with burrata and chili oil
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Eggplant long 4; Burrata cheese 4; Pine nuts 3 oz; Wild fennel to taste; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Maldon salt to taste; Extra virgin olive oil 7 ½ tbsp; Fresh chili pepper habanero 0.1 oz; Tomato paste 4 tsp; White wine vinegar 4 tsp; Parsley to taste

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Serving: 4
Cost: Average

PRESENTATION

Roasted Eggplant with Burrata and Chili Oil sounds like a study in calm contrasts — the soft, slightly smoky flesh against something cold and creamy — until the habanero chili oil arrives and reorders everything. The eggplants go into the oven whole and emerge yielding all the way through, carrying a gentle smokiness that makes them unusually good at holding other flavors. That quality is what makes the dish land as more than the sum of its parts, and it is why something simple can still feel genuinely surprising at the table.

The burrata brings its cool creaminess, toasted pine nuts add a crunch that cuts through both, and the habanero oil — built from chili, parsley, tomato paste, and vinegar — gives the plate a heat that is pointed but not aggressive. Wild fennel finishes everything with a sharp, anise-edged fragrance that ties the whole composition together. Colorful and full of contrasts, it works as a vegetarian main for a meatless dinner or as a striking opener to a longer meal — the plating is scenic enough to carry either role.

INGREDIENTS

Eggplant 4 - long

Burrata cheese 4

Pine nuts 3 oz (80 g)

Wild fennel to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Maldon salt to taste

For the chili oil: Extra virgin olive oil 7 ½ tbsp (100 g); Fresh chili pepper 0.1 oz (2 g) - habanero; Tomato paste 4 tsp (20 g); White wine vinegar 4 tsp (20 g); Parsley to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Roasted eggplant with burrata and chili oil

To prepare the roasted eggplants with burrata and chili oil, first brush the whole eggplants with oil, massaging them with your hands 1. Transfer them to a baking tray and bake in a preheated static oven at 482F for about 20 minutes 2. Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a pan 3 until golden and set aside.

Prepare the chili oil: remove the seeds from the habanero and place it in a container 4, then add the oil 5 and blend with an immersion blender 6.

Add the vinegar 7, the chopped parsley 8 and the tomato paste 9.

Mix well to combine 10 and set aside. At this point the eggplants should be cooked; check that they are soft and remove from the oven. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise 11 and season with Maldon salt 12.

Flavor with the wild fennel 16 and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts 17. Your roasted eggplants with burrata and chili oil are ready to be served still warm 18!