Charred Eggplant with Tomato Sauce Cornbread — Tomato-Buttered Eggplant Cornbread - Iskender Sopa Paraguaya
Charred eggplant smothered in Turkish iskender tomato sauce and brown-butter olive oil, served over a wedge of warm vegan Paraguayan sopa cornbread, finished with tahini drizzle, sumac, and fresh parsley.
Categories
Nutrition per Serving
Ingredients
For 2 servings
Instructions
Prep
Slice eggplant into 1.5cm thick rounds and salt both sides with 0.75 tsp salt. Rest on paper towels 10 minutes, then pat dry. Dice one onion for the sauce. Mince garlic. Dice tomatoes. Whisk flaxseed with 120ml warm water in a small bowl and rest 5 minutes until thickened. Grate the remaining two onions for the sopa. Pick parsley leaves. Preheat oven to 400F.
Sear
Brush eggplant rounds with 1/4 cup olive oil. Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat 3 minutes until smoking. Working in batches if needed, char eggplant 3 minutes per side until edges blacken and flesh collapses. Lift to a plate.
Build 1
Reduce heat to medium. Add 1/4 cup olive oil to the same skillet with the diced sauce onion and cook 3–4 minutes until soft. Stir in garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, oregano, and 0.5 tsp salt 60 seconds until fragrant. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, and 200ml water. Simmer 10 minutes until the sauce turns glossy and clings to a spoon.
Build 2
Whisk cornmeal, masa harina, 1 tsp baking powder, and 0.5 tsp salt in a bowl. Stir in flax slurry, oat milk, 1/4 cup olive oil, nutritional yeast, and grated sopa onions until a thick batter forms.
Bake
Pour batter into a medium oiled baking dish, smooth the top, and bake 25–28 minutes until the surface turns deep gold and a skewer comes out clean. Rest 5 minutes.
Build 3
Whisk tahini, lemon juice, and 2 tbsp warm water in a small bowl until pourable and pale.
Plate
Cut thick wedges of sopa cornbread and lay on plates. Set charred eggplant rounds on top, spoon hot iskender tomato sauce generously over the eggplant so it pools on the cornbread, drizzle tahini across in zigzags, dust with sumac, and scatter parsley to finish.
Recipes use AI and Edamam. Always check for allergens before cooking. Spotted something wrong—email us at hello@grubplanit.com.