Oven-baked eggplant chips

Confession time. I quite like eggplant. I’ve grown up eating it, so it’s never been one of those things that I’ve turned my nose up at. Over the years, I’ve found an increasing number of ways to cook with it and as a result, my husband is now an eggplant convert. He is particularly partial to my eggplant parmigiana lasagne, but a close second would have to be these oven-baked eggplant chips.

They can serve as a snack or a side dish. They are crunchy and tasty, and a bit of a hit in our house.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• Oil or vegetable broth (you’ll need a drizzle)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1 cup almond flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Cut eggplant into thin fry like sticks. The thinner they are the crispier they will get.
3. Sprinkle some salt on the cut eggplant and put them in a colander for around 20 minutes. This will draw out some of the moisture and give you a crispier end result.
4. Put eggplant pieces in a deep bowl and sprinkle with oil or vegetable broth, salt, pepper, paprika and maple syrup. Mix to coat.
5. Place almond flour in another bowl or dish. In small handfuls, put eggplant pieces in bowl and toss to coat well.
6. Place on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and bake for 35-45 minutes, depending on thickness, or until golden brown. Make sure they don’t overlap to assure the most crispy result.
7. Serve.