I got these beautiful baby eggplants so I had to come up with something with things I had at home. This was pretty easy to make. It would be best to pickle the peppers the day before. The eggplants, tomatoes and shallots all went in the 350 degree F oven at the same time and all got done in 45 minutes. White they were roasting the dressing can be whipped up fast. Basil leaves can be crisped in oven. They only take 3-6 minutes. You can do this while stuff is cooking. This recipe makes more pickled peppers than you need. The extra peppers are great in sandwiches and salads.

Ingredients for around 5 servings.

8 oz baby bell peppers – sliced in rings

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup rice wine vinegar

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

3 garlic – ground to paste

1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon dry oregano

1 lb baby eggplants (I had 5 baby eggplants) – cut in half long ways and score them (like cross hatch)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I don’t know the exact amount because I sprayed the vegetables and basil with the oil. I also used one Tablespoon of oil later in the recipe for the dressing.

1 lemon just the fresh squeezed juice (one lemon goes on eggplants ( half a lemon for the juice is used later for the dressing)

1 pint grape tomatoes – cut in half

2 shallots – diced

1 cup basil leaves

fresh crushed sea salt to taste – goes on eggplants, tomatoes, shallots

fresh crushed black pepper to taste – goes on eggplants, tomatoes, shallots

10 anchovies + a little oil (1 or 2 teaspoons)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

1 garlic clove – ground to paste

1 Tablespoon capers – drained

1 Tablespoon golden raisins

Directions

You need to make the pickled peppers first.

Put your pepper rings in a container with the garlic. In a sauce pot on medium high heat add the vinegars, water, kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, coriander seeds, bay leaf and dried oregano. Bring this mixture to a boil and then pour it over the peppers. Leave it on the counter till it’s room temperature. After it cools down you can refrigerate it.

Your oven gets set to 350 degrees F.

Baking sheets get sprayed with olive oil. Put the eggplants on one sheet, the tomatoes on another sheet and the shallots on another sheet. They all get sprayed with olive oil. The eggplants get drizzled with lemon juice too. They all get seasoned with salt and pepper.

I put the eggplants on the middle rack and the shallots and tomatoes on one rack under the eggplants. In my oven they took 45 minutes to be cooked and nicely browned. Your oven might differ some.

While they were roasting I whipped the dressing with my stick blender.

Blend up the anchovies, anchovies oil, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, capers and rosins till smooth and set to the side.

Now spray a baking sheet (lightly) with olive oil and place a single layer of basil leaves on the pan. lightly Spray the tops of basil leaves with olive oil. The leaves will crisp up fast…only 3-6 minutes.

Get ready to serve.

Eggplants on platter. Top with tomatoes. Then top with shallots. Top with some pickled peppers. The dressing you either put on bottom. Or dress around the plate or pour over. Lastly add the crisp leaves.

Enjoy!