Roasted eggplant is a tender, smoky, and versatile vegetable dish that can be enjoyed on its own, blended into dips like baba ganoush, or added to a variety of recipes for depth and flavor.

Eggplant is much maligned. It’s known for being bitter and seedy, woolly and dry, even greasy at times. And, of course, it can be all of these things when it isn’t treated right.

Eggplant timbale for Evan Kleiman’s Cucina Italiana column, photographed in 2018.

In this quiet corner of rural Azerbaijan, we prepare a traditional eggplant caviar spread the way it’s been made for ...

Lightly brush the eggplant rounds with oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and roast until the slices are browned in spots, about 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and, using a ...

1 pound baby eggplant 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 large Vidalia or other sweet onion, halved, sliced 2 tablespoons za’atar seasoning For couscous: 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth, or ...

Roast for 25-35 minutes, until the onion is caramelized and the eggplant is tender. Set aside to cool. Heat a small pan on the stove over medium-high heat.

For the eggplant I borrowed from escalivada, a traditional Spanish dish that evolved from an old shepherd’s trick of nestling whole eggplant, peppers, and unpeeled onions in the dying embers of ...