To find the best way, I tried five different methods: • Salting, resting, and pressing the slices first gets rid of moisture through osmosis Like a leaky water balloon, as the moisture leaves the eggplant, its structure weakens, allowing you eventually to press out the excess air This works fairly well, but it requires quite a bit of pressure, it’s easy to over- or undersalt the slices, and sometimes you’re still left with uncompressed sections in the center of the slices, which means undercooked, astringent finished results The method works for recipes with caramelized eggplant and rich tomato sauce like Pasta Alla Norma (here) where you’re going to be cooking the eggplant slowly and thoroughly, but in this case, it’s too unpredictable • Steaming the eggplant slices in a bamboo steamer will rapidly soften them to the point that you can easily compress them It also makes them soggy and mushy It’s a technique better suited for eggplant that’s going to be braised or mashed • Roasting eggplant slices uncovered is tough to do Cook them dry, and they turn leathery and tough Oil them before roasting, and the usual problem occurs: the oil is instantly sucked in, and the eggplant slices still end up leathery and tough and greasy • Roasting the eggplant slices covered by a layer of paper towels in between two baking sheets pans is by far the most successful in-the-oven way to do it Lining a baking sheet with paper towels (or a clean kitchen towel), placing the slices on top, covering them with another layer of paper towels, and then with another baking sheet ensures that the slices cook evenly, and the paper towels absorb excess moisture while at the same time keeping them just moist enough to prevent them from turning leathery • Microwaving is my go-to method It’s fast and consistent (See “How Microwave Ovens Work” here.) Just lay the slices (or cubes) of eggplant on a microwave-safe plate lined with a couple paper towels Lay some more paper towels on top, followed by a heavy plate, and microwave on high for 5 to 10 minutes, until the eggplant has given up excess moisture through steam and completely collapsed You can stack multiple plates with paper towels between them to cook more eggplant at the same time ... Cook them dry, and they turn leathery and tough Oil them before roasting, and the usual problem occurs: the oil is instantly sucked in, and the eggplant slices still end up leathery and tough and greasy... kitchen towel), placing the slices on top, covering them with another layer of paper towels, and then with another baking sheet ensures that the slices cook evenly, and the paper towels absorb... at the same time keeping them just moist enough to prevent them from turning leathery • Microwaving is my go-to method It’s fast and consistent (See “How Microwave Ovens Work” here.) Just lay the