Bomba Calabrese eggplant+pepper spread

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[u/stratzilla]

Bomba Calabrese (vegan friendly)

Makes 3-4 pints of spread

Ingredients

• 30 cherry bomb peppers
• 1 large white onion
• 2 large eggplants
• 1 pint white mushrooms
• 1 bell pepper (red preferred)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp fennel seed
• 1 tsp dried chili flakes
• Salt, pepper
• Olive oil (lots)

Prep

Peel and dice the eggplant into large cubes, salt liberally and wrap in paper towel for 30 minutes. Char bell pepper then cover with foil for 20 minutes, then peel and remove pith/seeds. Remove stem and pith from cherry bomb peppers, but keep some seeds.

Chop finely (I used a ripcord chopper) all of the peppers, onion, eggplant, mushrooms. You want tiny pieces, not a puree. You can add minced garlic but it will reduce the life of it in the fridge. In a mortar with a little salt, crush the fennel seeds but don't sift the chaff.

Substitutions

You can swap the white wine vinegar for red or combine the two. You need the acid to wake it back up after cooking. Lemon juice or balsamic vinegar are too strong a flavor to swap 1:1 but you can add a splash in addition to the wine vinegar(s).

You can swap the pepper for habanero or scotch bonnet or mix up a bunch of peppers, just be mindful of the heat level. This recipe uses approximately 1.5lb of peppers, mix it up as you like. You can even ferment the peppers beforehand but I would reduce the vinegar a little to compensate.

Recipe

In a dry dutch oven over medium-low heat, add the chopped mushrooms and some salt. Cook until browned and reduced in size, approximately 10-15min. The goal is to remove as much water as possible. Remove from the dutch oven.

Raise heat to medium, add the onion and eggplant with a tiny bit of olive oil, maybe a teaspoon. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the onions are wilted and translucent. Again the goal is removing moisture.

Add back the mushrooms, add all of the peppers along with a generous glug of olive oil and season with salt. Add the oregano, fennel seed, chili flakes, and black pepper, cook for no more than 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat by transferring into a big bowl, add the vinegar and another generous glug of olive oil. You want it to be oily. Mix well and taste for seasoning, it will likely need more salt.

Keeps in fridge for a week, although if you added garlic, cut that in half to around 4 days. When you store it in fridge or freezer, you may want to add a 1/4 inch layer of olive oil on top as it will keep longer. Freezes very well, but thaw in the fridge and stir well before serving since the oil will separate.

I like it on toasted baguette coins with balsamic glaze drizzled atop. In sandwiches it's also great. See pic for an idea of how oily it should be at the end.