1. Cut the eggplant in half and score the flesh pretty deeply with the tip of your knife in a cross-hatch pattern. Don’t cut all the way through to the skin, but do cut fairly close to it, and keep the cuts pretty large.
2. Salt the eggplant to draw some of the excess liquid out. Press on the edges of the halves to open the cuts and sprinkle kosher salt over the surface and into the cuts.
3. Let the eggplant sit cut side up for about 30 minutes while the salt draws out the water. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees.
4. There won’t necessarily be a lot of water on the surface after a half an hour, so gently squeeze the eggplant with your hand to release the water.
5. Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels.
6. Brush the cut sides generously with olive oil and place face down on a parchment lined baking sheet
7. Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 1 hour. The eggplant will collapse and the flesh on the bottom will turn a beautiful caramel color.
8. After roasting, let the eggplants cool for at least 20 minutes before handling.
9. Once cooled, scoop the roasted flesh out of the eggplant with a spoon.

Serve

1. If preparing for a main course, roast eggplant face down over fresh thyme sprigs and serve hot with a drizzle of vinaigrette.