Ribeye fillet & spiced eggplant is my latest "creation". We eat a good amount of steak in our house but not a ton of eggplant. So I'm on a bit of a mission to incorporate more eggplant into our diet. This spiced eggplant recipe is simply divine. Layers of flavour in it and it goes well with multiple proteins - more on this later. So, read on and get grilling some steak & eggplant!
sponsored by Mollydooker Wines, Mclaren Vale
Why I LOVE This Recipe
- tasty AF
- eggplant is normally off-limits but this way the whole fam wants it
- quick, easy and world great at dinner parties
- you can make the eggplant in advance
There are numerous other reasons why I am digging this ribeye and spiced eggplant recipe but tbh it's mainly because I have made something that nobody in the house wanted to eat into something that is now requested. If that's not a major transformation then I dunno what is!
Ingredients Needed
The joy of this recipe is all ingredients are easily sourced in your local grocery store and/or already in your pantry so no need to head off to some exotic shop to pick them up!
Spiced Eggplant
- Vegetables - eggplant & brown onion
- Herbs - fresh parsley, dried oregano
- Spices - smoked paprika, cumin, garlic & salt
- Other - lemon juice, oil & red wine vinegar
The full recipe is in the card below but simply all you need to do is dice the onion and cube the eggplant into 1cm pieces and then gather the rest of your ingredients. It may seem tedious but the best advice I can give is to have all your ingredient ready and weighed out when making spiced eggplant for the first time.
Steak
I used ribeye steak as it's one of my favourite cuts - a good balance of meat to fat ratio, it cooks quick and lends itself well to all temperatures. Medium-rare is the go for me! You may also see ribeye being called Scotch fillet or Cube roll here in Australia
- 200g steaks (or more if you are hungry!)
- oil - canola works fine
- salt - don't be shy!
When cooking your steak - season generously and allow it to come to room temperature before cooking. Thsi helps even cooking throughout. Also, rest your meat! This step is just as important as cooking it to the correct temp.
Steak Alternatives
Honestly - you could eat this delicious spiced eggplant with pretty much anything and be happy. Heck, I'd even eat it on it's own as a vegetarian and vegan dinner, that's how good it is
- chicken breast or thighs
- lamb leg, lamb cutlets and/or rump
- white fish like cod, halibut or barramundi
- pork tenderloin or chops
It's so versatile you won't regret having this recipe up your sleeve!
Wine Pairing
Well, it may be summer but I just can't go past a good bottle of red with my steak! So, this week and many other weeks of the year I'm on the Mollydooker "The Boxer" Shiraz.
The 2021 vintage is cracking! Overall 2021 in Mclaren Vale was heralded as one of the best in the 21st Century. High yields and excellent quality were the main descriptors used!
So, with that being said the guys over at Mollydooker have created another cracker! Elegance and strength comes to mind - like a good middleweight boxer. It has plum, mocha and licorice notes with good oak integration, balanced tannins and a decent amount of "pour me another glass". I would recommend a 30min-1hour decant due to it's youth but it's always consistent and always bloody good.
Alternative Steak/Eggplant Recipes
Inspired to cook my delicious spiced eggplant dish with a lovely piece of steak and now have a hankering to add more eggplant to your diet and/or a juicy steak? Well, with these recipes (all on my site) below you will have plenty to keep you busy 😉
Moroccan Salmon w/ Baba Ghanoush
Grilled Bavette Steak w/ Corn Puree
Roasted Eggplant w/ Harissa Sauce
Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!
Ingredients
- 4 200g steaks
- Oil
- Salt and pepper
Spiced Eggplant
- 2 eggplants
- 1 brown onion
- ½ tsp oregano
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 handful parsley
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp oil
Essential Tools
- Chef Knives
- Chopping board
- weighing/measuring utensils
- Spatula/wooden spoon
- Large frying pan
- BBQ
Instructions
Eggplant
- Dice eggplant into 1cm cubes, dice onion, crush garlic and roughly chop parsley
- Saute the eggplant with oil in a large frying pan for approx. 10-12mins on medium/high heat. The eggplant will start to caramelize.
- Add onion and garlic and cook for a further 4 mins – add seasoning at this point *see tips*
- Add oregano, paprika, cumin, vinegar and cook for a further 2 mins
- Remove from the heat and add lemon juice and chopped parsley
Steak
- Remove steaks from the fridge 20/30 mins before cooking to allow to come to room temperature *see tips*
- Season generously and rub with a little oil
- Grill on BBQ @ 220c for 2mins per side or until internal temp is 48-52c for medium rare
- Rest for 3-4 minutes before slicing
Notes
Tips/Tricks
- add the salt after caramelizing the eggplant. Salt will add moisture to the eggplant and during the process, we are trying to remove some of the moisture so best not to season until after caramelizing
- allowing the steak to come to room temperature helps the steak cook evenly – especially if you have a thicker piece
- steak cooking time is based on a 200g steak that was about ¾ inch thick
- the eggplant can be pre-cooked and reheated to order if cooking for a dinner party
i absolutely love eggplant! We were just talking about it a few minutes ago and how hard it is to get really good baba ganoush in the stores or at restaurants. They never grill it enough to get it really smoky. This looks splendid Gavin!
From Australia. What do you do with the onion? No details in the recipe.I just decided to chop it and cook it with the eggplant. Seemed to work out ok. Not sure how you dice oregano though? Left out the lemon as the red wine vinegar provided enough acidity. Recipe needs attention.
Brian - thanks for the feedback! Personally I like the addition of lemon but obviously each to their own. With regards to the onion - it does state to add it in step 3 but I guess given in step 1 I said dice oregano and not onion I could see the confusion. Will edit that part now. Cheers