I'm 'retired' so I've got a lot more time to prepare fussier foods than I would have in the past.
Good luck so far with eggplant this year. So, I decided to smoke some, and use them as ingredients in other recipes.

I do this while I'm smoking something else. ( in the smoker that is)

Cut eggplant in half. score deep, without puncturing the skin, in a crosshatch pattern. Brush with olive oil. Smoke cut side down, for roughly an hour ( depending on heat) or until the eggplant yields very easily when pressed.

Scoop out pulp.

So far, I've

.added this to tomato sauce to make pizza. or serve with pasta.

.mixed with equal parts ricotta cheese, some nutmeg, and a dash of romano or parmigiana cheese and used to make 'ravioli', (mine are really just pasta dough dumplings, rolled out to 1/8 inch, cut into circles and filled. (using some brushed on water to seal the dough.

Layered in a 'vegetable lasagne' with alternate layers of sliced eggplant or zucchini , similarly smoked but removed from the smoker while still able to retain their shape easily, eggplant pulp, and ricotta, once again flavored with nutmeg and mixed with a beaten egg.

At the end of the season I intend to either pickle whatevers left in vinegar, or to pickle an eggplant relish with other veggies depending on what I've got on hand.