(this just in from the bad puns department)

So I was contemplating this bit of eggplant in our freezer, leftover from some dish I can’t even remember, and I had a hankering for this amazing eggplant dish I ate once in Morocco. Not having a recipe I cast around a few cookbooks and came up with the concoction below. It’s not quite a salad, and not quite the dish I was aiming for, but it’s still perfect for an appetizer or side dish. My mom likened it to a caponata.

What you’ll need:

1 medium eggplant, sliced into strips
3 medium-sized tomatoes, grated (my technique is to slice them in half and grate them down to the skins against a cheese grater)
5 cherry or grape tomatoes, cut into eighths
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 T olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper
Paprika
Cumin
2 T Honey

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees; place the eggplant in a small pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Bake for 15 minutes or until soft, and roughly chop up the cooked eggplant.

Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a saucepan and dust with a half teaspoon each of cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Place on medium high heat.

Once the oil starts to shimmer, add the tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper to taste, and a tablespoon of honey, and mix well. Sautee for 10 minutes.

Add the eggplant, an additional tablespoon of olive oil, and reduce to medium low heat and cook until reduced to a thick sauce, adjusting the spices and honey to taste.

Let it cool a bit and serve either at room temperature or even chilled.

I served it with some homemade pita chips – just slice some pita bread into small wedges, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and dried thyme, and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.