Pickled eggplant with garlic in olive oil

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Wash the eggplant and cut into strips or rounds 1 cm thick. Combine water with the vinegar and bring to a boil.

2. Add the eggplant to the boiling vinegar mixture and cook for approximately 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel, let cool, and sprinkle with oregano and black pepper.

3. Pack the eggplant into a sterilized jar, layering it with sliced garlic. Pour the olive oil over it.

4. Stir the contents of the jar with a fork to remove air bubbles, then let stand for several hours for the same reason.

5. Close the jar and submerge it in boiling water for 30 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate.

   Raw garlic in oil without access to air provides a suitable environment at room temperature for bacteria that produce botulinum toxin. The University of Georgia (UGA Extension) therefore recommends refrigerating this mixture and using it within 4 days, or freezing it.

Tip: Olive oil thickens when chilled, so take the jar out of the refrigerator a little before serving. Use a clean fork to serve the eggplant so that food scraps do not get into the oil.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Nakladaný baklažán s cesnakom v olivovom oleji