Italian Baked Eggplant with Cherry Tomato

Heat the oven to 180C.

Slice the red onion finely into rings and place in a bowl. Add 5 tablespoons of JOSEPH La Casetta Aged Vinegar to the onion rings and mix well. Let this sit to 'cure' the onion while the rest of the dish is prepared. 

In a wide, shallow baking dish drizzle enough JOSEPH Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil to just cover the bottom. Sprinkle a tablespoon of dried oregano evenly across the surface of the oil. 

Trim the ends of the eggplants and cut each eggplant into quarters longways. Cut the 'sharp' end of each wedge off and discard to make each piece a flatter shape. Immediately press the cut side of each eggplant piece into the oil and oregano mixture then turn them so they are lying in the baking dish with the cut side facing upwards.

Place cherry tomatos in a small bowl and drizzle some JOSEPH Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil over them, mixing to coat. Place cherry tomatoes in the baking tray amongst the eggplant pieces. Sprinkle a good pinch of sea salt over the lot and bake in the hot oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

In the meantime crush a clove of garlic into the onion rings and vinegar and add a good drizzle of JOSEPH Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil, about five tablespoonsful. Season with a pinch of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper and mix well. 

When the eggplant and cherry tomato comes out of the oven let it rest for a rew minutes and simply spoon the onion rings and juices over the top and serve. For the decadent optional extra add a dollop of creamy Persian Fetta onto each serve.

Any of our reds that take your mood would go with this at a BBQ, however our Virginia Vineyard Shiraz Cabernet Merlot blend usually covers all the bases for a simple family barbecue.