We grow a range of these, some look like your normal Italian eggplant, plump and dark purple, while others are long and thin and bright purple or mini eggplants with speckled lilac skins. All of our eggplants share basic similarities, but some are sweeter, some are smaller, and some are seedier. The most important thing they all have in common: they’re delicious!

When it's in Season at Hartwood Farm:

Eggplants of varying shapes and sizes can be found on the farm from mid-July through the end of September.

Crop Category and What it Tastes Like:

One of the fruiting veggies!

Eggplants are wonderful flavor conduits for whatever you’re cooking with. Undressed, they are tender, mild, and sweet. Their skins can range from mildly to strongly bitter depending on variety, but this can be somewhat soaked out or altered in the cooking process. The spongey flesh inside the eggplant soaks up all the flavors included in cooking.

How to Handle and Store:

Ideally stored at 50 degrees, you can put it in the fridge, but it doesn't last super long--4 to 6 days

How to Prep for Use:

Some folks prefer to skin them (we don't, especially with the small guys), but they are generally sliced the long way, in rounds, or chopped small. You might notice how quickly eggplant turns brown after you cut it—don’t worry, that’s normal! Some cooks like to salt their eggplant, which becomes a better step to take as you get into bigger fruits. The salt is added after cutting, tossed to coat, and then can left sitting in it for 15 to 30 minutes. After salting, drain the liquid (and if you take this step, you don’t need to add salt when you are cooking). Salting your raw eggplant can help to draw the bitterness out of the skin before you cook!

Ways to Cook and Eat:

Eggplant needs to be cooked thoroughly or it tastes gross! We recommend grilling, sautéing, baking, or frying. It's also delicious in baba ghanoush. Eggplant can soak up a TON of oil and flavors in cooking, which is part of what makes it good, and part of what makes it tricky. While cooking, we’ve noticed it drinks up the oil, but then releases it at the end. If we feel like we’ve added enough oil to the pan, we may just add a little water when it’s dry to keep the eggplant from getting too oily.

Quick and Dirty Hangry Farmer Go-To Preparations:

Eggplant is one of my favorite veggies, which is good because I'm the eggplant whisperer (it grows ridiculously well for us). We mostly grill it--sliced into 1/2 inch thick pieces, basted with oil and salt, and grilled about 5 minutes per side (until super soft). Roasting eggplant with oil and lots of herbs and other veggies isn’t as quick, but super easy and delicious.

Typical time to:

  • Steam—Not recommended

  • Sauté—5 to 15 minutes, depending on size

  • Bake—25 to 50 minutes, or until soft

  • Boil—Don’t do it!

Our Favorite Recipes:

Oven Roasted Eggplant (Recipe Tin Eats)—just some instructions for simple roasted eggplant, including some great tips for dressing it up after!

Eggplant Fries (Kitchn)- a great summer alternative to french fries! Go ahead and use some fresh herbs in the breadcrumbs and in the yogurt dip for extra fresh goodness

Khoresh Bademjan (Bon Appetit)—for the ambitious cook looking to try something new, this is a delicious Persian stew. I included this recipe as it does a good job of omitting meat for an eggplant-centric dish, but I encourage you to use notes made in the reviews before cooking as the recipe itself isn’t perfect. However, if you make some adjustments, this is an absolutely incredible, unique dish. If you want a more traditional recipe, which would typically include lamb or beef, I encourage you to play around with a different website!