Spicy Roasted Ratatouille

I fired up my oven today and made this warm and earthy roasted eggplant dish to celebrate the first day of autumn. The recipe is my deconstructed take on a classic ratatouille, albeit with a lot of aromatic spices thrown in. And, instead of laboriously browning each vegetable individually in a skillet, as is called for in a traditional ratatouille, I took the liberty of tossing them all together into a baking dish and roasting them in the high heat of the oven until they cooked down to a luscious, golden pile of caramelized veggie goodness.

Ingredients

Vegetables 
3 lbs [1½ kg] Eggplant, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 small Red Onions, chopped
2 Tomatoes, chopped
8 cloves Garlic, peeled

Whole Spices 
2 Bay leaves
1 stick Cinnamon
1 whole Clove
1 whole Green Cardamom
1 whole Black Cardamom

Ground Spices 
1 tsp ground Garam Masala
Pinch of ground Nutmeg
½ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
½ tsp Chilli Powder

2 tbsp Tomato Paste
½ cup Olive Oil
Sea Salt (to taste)

1. Pre-heat oven to 450º F (230ºC). Arrange vegetables and whole spices in a deep baking dish. 
2. In a small bowl, whisk together ground spices, tomato paste and olive oil, and pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with sea salt, and toss well to mix. 
3. Roast in the oven for 30 mins, then stir the vegetables to ensure that they caramelise evenly. Continue roasting for another 15 mins. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Spice-Roasted Eggplant

As summer winds down and the cooler evenings of fall approach, I start turning on my oven more frequently. This also signals the beginning of my roasting season, especially no-hassle roasted vegetables of all kinds. This eggplant dish is my de-facto “cheating” recipe; one which I always turn to in a pinch—it’s super easy and unfailingly results in a luscious pile of caramelized eggplant goodness.

Ingredients
4 lbs [2kg] Eggplant (cut laterally into ½”-thick slices)
6 tbsp ground Coriander
2 tbsp ground Cumin
3-4 tsp Chilli powder (to taste)
2 tsp Black pepper
2 tsp Asafoetida powder
Salt (to taste)
½ cup Mustard Oil, or Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 425ºF/220ºC. 
2. Mix spices and salt in a bowl. Sprinkle spice mixture over eggplant and, using your hands, toss well to mix. Drizzle oil over eggplant and toss again. 
3. Lay eggplant in one layer on a large baking pan or tray, making sure that the pieces do not overlap. If they do not all fit in one pan, then use a second pan and cook in batches. 
4. Roast eggplant in the oven for 40 mins, or until golden brown and well caramelised. Halfway through the roasting process, flip the eggplant pieces so both sides are evenly browned. Serve warm.