Lately eggplant has been my absolute favorite vegetable. I eat it in almost all forms, from simply roasted, to baba ganoush, and now my new favorite way, hasselbacked with homemade pesto. Hasselback is when you cut an item 3/4 of the way through in thin slices and bake with the option of stuffing the slices. I have seen other vegetables and squash hasselbacked before, like sweet potatoes and butternut squash, but it never occurred to me to hasselback an eggplant until I was thinking of creative ways to cook eggplant.

The pesto was a no brainer for me when deciding what I wanted to go in between the thin layers of the eggplant. The Italian in me loves pairing eggplant with fresh herbs like the basil that is used in pesto. Plus the vegan and Paleo pesto is good enough to eat with a spoon. Definitely try this side dish out for an impressive, yet simple side!

Ingredients:

  1. 1 large eggplant (or more if you have more than two people)
  2. olive oil to coat
  3. salt to taste

Pesto ingredients:

  1. 2 cups of packed basil leaves
  2. 1/2 cup pine nuts
  3. 1 cup olive oil
  4. 3 TB nutritional yeast
  5. 1 tsp minced garlic
  6. 1 tsp salt

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven 400F
  2. Slice eggplant in half lengthwise
  3. Hasselback your eggplant halves, slice very thin slices 3/4 of the way through the eggplant
  4. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, especially between the wedges
  5. Roast in oven for 20 minutes
  6. While roasting, make the pesto by blending putting all the ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.
  7. After the 20 minutes take the eggplant out and put dollops of pesto between every other layer of the eggplant. Roast 5 more minutes
  8. Serve and enjoy!
Print Friendly, PDF & Email Print Recipe