Eggplant Spread

 This is a heavenly piece of my childhood. 
Since I was small, every autumn I was roasting eggplant and peppers with my mom in the kitchen. Just the smell makes me think I'm small again and the taste really takes me there. 
"Te iubesc mami"(love you mom)

(traditional romanian recipe)

Ingredients:

• 6 medium eggplant
• 1 medium red onion
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• salt
• pepper

Step One

 Place the eggplants on a grill. Turn them on all sides until they are soft and their skin is almost burned. Put them aside on a plate to cool down for 5 min.

Step Two

 Cut the eggplants with a knife in the middle and remove the core with a spoon. Place them on a fine sieve and let them drain for at least 30 minutes, until their (bitter) oils are drained.

Do NOT keep the eggplants in their skin or let them drain for too long because you don't want them to oxidize.

Step Three

 Chop the eggplants with a knife until it gets into a fine paste. Then, put them in a bowl and start mixing them. Add the oil with a tablespoon and incorporate well, until they start to change color (their color will start getting lighter).

Step Four

 Clean and finely chop the onion. Add it to the eggplant spread with salt and pepper.

ENJOY!!!

Tip1: I highly recommend to eat this spread on white bread with roasted pepper and nice sweet fresh tomatoes.
Tip2: You can also freeze (for several months) the eggplant after you let it drain.

Tip3: Some people like to add mayonnaise or a garlic cream. I don't really enjoy that, but you can always try ;)